Cat's eyes
by Lollicatt
Summary: Haruhi's best friend Nala has never had it easy but she's never given up. After her drunkard father tries to whore her out for money Nala runs to Haruhi for help for the first time and ends up dragging not only her but the host club along for the wild ride as well. Join Nala as struggles to find her way, fights too many bad guys, and finds romance of her own along the way.
1. Chapter 1

"-And if I don't get the prescribed quota of one thousand girls-" "ONE THOUSAND!? How many damn people are in that school anyway Haru?"

My best friend and adoptive sister sighed softly on her end of the line.

"A lot Nala, have you been listening to a word I said?"

Although I knew she couldn't see me i started fidgeting nervously,

"Uh..wellllllll…."

"Nala!" I sweatdropped, brushing my long brown hair out of my face.

"Ok fine, i admit i zoned out when you started talking about your French class, but i'm listening now!" I could picture her shutting her big, brown eyes and shaking her head with a grimace at my scatterbrainedness. "Honestly though Haru, can't you just cut and run? Go to another school or something." She sighed again,

"You know i can't do that Nal. Ouran Academy is the best of the best i have to finish out my highschool years here. Besides even though they may not have started as friends, the host club members are now…..perhaps even more…." she whispered the last part but i jumpedon the opportunity.

_Perhaps even more? What does she mean by...oh. OHHHH!_

"Haruhi likes a boyyyyy! Haruhi likes a boyyyy!" I sang the words out, jumping up and down in excitement causing my long hair to swish around me.

"Naaalllaaa!" She groaned over the phone, "Cut it out. I'm not even sure about it, so let me figure it out before you go jumping to conclusions." I cackled.

"You think i'm letting you live this one down? This is your first crush and as such I have bestfriend rights to not only help, but tease you about it as well. Mwahahaha."

She snickered at my attempted evil, witchy laugh.

"Fine, fine do what you want but good luck meeting him through me."

Of course, being me, a brilliant idea popped into my head.

"Who said i need to meet him through you? I'll see you soon Haruhi!"

Before she could convince me otherwise to what i knew she knew i was planning, i hit the end call button and ran out of my bedroom. I got to the middle of the hall, almost to the stairs, mind giddy with happiness at being able to see my bestfriend and tease her. Only to freeze when i heard the front door open and loud, raucous laughter filled the house. I went pale. Normally when my dad came home drunk with whichever new fuck buddy he had, i'd hightail it to Haruhi's house and stay with her until he came to some semblance of soberness. This was how it had always been, but now with her move to the otherside of town and attendance to the prestigious Ouran Academy i'd been forced to learn a new way to defend myself from the things that happened in my own house when he came home like this.

My mother had been good friends with Haruhi's mom which was how the two of us had met, but when our moms passed away in a car accident coming home from a court case life had changed drastically. Her father found his true inner calling as we jokingly called it, and my father? My father had turned to drugs, alcohol, and whores.

Upon hearing the high tittering sounds of feminine laughter, and the deep chuckles of my father i knew i had to get out of the house. Fear turned to horror though when my father's loud voice called to some third party in the house,

"She should be upstairs. Turn left down the hall and it's the second door on the right hand side. Before you go up though give me the money now."

A low murmured assent followed by heavy footsteps heading towards the stairs almost caused me to pass out there and then as my heart practically stopped from shock, and fear. My own father had finally taken a turn Haruhi and i had feared happening ever since i'd turned thirteen and started to develope a more mature body. He was whoring me out for money. Darting to my room, i slipped into my well worn sneakers, grabbed an oversized hoodie, and my wallet before wrenching my window open and jumping out of it.

My door was just opening as i swung my legs over the sill and dropped onto our neighbor's porch roof. An angry shout and the sound of someone scrambling across my room, snapping and breaking the window pane in their haste to come after me sent me sprinting across the roof. This was an escape route i'd been using for years but never in such haste, tears of pure fear dripped down my face blinding me, and i slipped on one of the smooth tiles on the roof. Crying out when i landed on all fours, I skinned my hands as they slid over the not so smooth tiles. Suddenly, someone grabbed my hair yanking me to my feet causing me to let out a blood curdling scream, the pain in my hands momentarily forgotten.

"Stupid bitch." A dark voice snarled at me, "I paid too much for you to get away. 'A pretty, hapless, biddable, girl' hah! You're father lied but it doesn't matter now. This will be all the more fun."

I got the impression of tall, dark, and handsome from my quick glance at him as before my head was jerked to far back for me to see him,, but it was ruined by how his lips had been curled up in a feral snarl, and a menacing light flickered in his eyes.

"No! Let me go!"

I scratched and clawed at the hands holding me by my hair and with a curse he dropped me when my sharp nails dug into the tender part of his hand. Using the opportunity to escape, i leapt to my feet and with new determination sprinted across the roof. Somewhere during his speech, my panic had faded, replaced with an animalistic urge to survive.

I'd lost too much and this bastard wasn't going to take the only pure attribute about me by force. Fear faded out of my mind and instinct kicked in. Years of running, and the ingrained memory of each and every step across the rooftops filled me, and i flew.

Never had i run so quickly, i could hear the angry shouts of my pursuer fading away as i ran with the speed of a cheetah. In a move of total insanity i leapt off the rooftop where it was sloping low. If i'd been in my right mind at the time i wouldn't have ever dared to do that, because it was a good ten foot drop, but adrenaline does strange things to a person's body, and a landing that any other day would've left me with at least one broken bone if not more, only left me with bruises and a few scrapes.

Standing i sprinted down the streets not completely sure of where i was going, still moving on instinct. I could feel the tears falling as i fled through the streets, my long hair whipping behind me, my green eyes scanning constantly for signs of my pursuer. I didn't stop until i found myself in front of a tall, looming, pink building.

"Ouran...Academy…" i panted to myself, even with the hysteria building in the back of my mind i felt my corners of my lips turn up a little. _Ironic that I was going to come here anyway. Oh Haruhi I'm sorry you're gonna see me like this._

Climbing up the front stairs rapidly, i flipped my hood up before stepping inside the building. I didn't take the time to admire the surroundings like i would've any other day, no on this occasion i just headed straight for the stairs. Remnants of old conversations with Haruhi were what directed me. _Yeah Nala it's up three flights of stairs crazy right?...I don't get why it's in a music room Nal! It just doesn't make sense….Who even has so many music rooms they need signs saying 'unemployed music room #3'._ It was the little things like that that soon found me standing outside the doors to none other than Music Room #3. Brushing the sleeves of my big sweatshirt over my still teary eyes, i fisted the ends of the arms in my hands and shoved the door open with one goal in mind. _Find Haru._


	2. Chapter 2

I choked on a rose petal as they suddenly flew out of the open door along with a blindingly brilliant white light. _What the actual hell?_

"Welcome Princess."

A voice spoke from in front of me…..No, make that seven voices in unison. My jaw dropped as i took it in. Four exceedingly attractive guys, a little kid, some tall dude, and Haruhi were standing there in various poses with a rose _huh? _in each of their hands.

"Is that really a girl?"

Two voices chorused, causing my eyes to jerk to them and my face to heat. Twins, very very attractive twins were staring at me with their heads cocked and their golden eyes narrowed. _It's kinda obvious isn't...oh right the hoodie...nevermind_. The guy with glasses was off to the side a little, and out of the corner of my eyes i saw him pull a laptop out and start typing furiously. _The hell is he doing? _I was finding it slightly sketchy that some scratched up girl just stumbled into the famed host club, and glasses was over there blatantly ignoring it. _I'm already not a fan of him, that must be the famed Ootori son. _ With a small glance to the little guy and the tall man whose shoulders he was sitting on i slowly stepped forward.

"Do you talk princess?"

The voice suddenly at my side caused me to jump five feet in the air. Blondie had somehow managed to get to my side without me noticing. Shaking my head i stepped away from him, and began walking forward towards Haruhi blatantly ignoring the boy at my side. I was holding in far too many emotions and knew that if i opened my mouth i'd break down crying. I needed to make it to Haruhi before that happened.

"Are you ok?" The soft voice caused me to turn my head to look at the little boy as he spoke. He pointed to my hands, "You're bleeding."

Flicking my eyes down, i winced as i realized his observation was indeed correct. I was bleeding. Probably from the fall on the roof…. Again turning back, i kept up my slow, somehow steady pace towards Haruhi, only to be cut off by the twins stepping in front of me between the two of us.

"Alright that's close enough." One of them stated warily,

"You're creeping us out say something will ya?" The other snapped.

All i could do was shake my head softly.

"It's ok guys let him come here he won't hurt me." They warily moved aside at Haruhi's confident words, and i practically stumbled the last few steps to her. Tipping my formerly downcast head up, i pulled my hood back and met her eyes. "Nala!?" she gasped out in horror and rushed the last few feet to me. "What the hell happened?! Are you hurt?!" she swept me into a tight hug and my tears started to fall again. Sinking to the ground in her embrace, I wrapped my arms around her and we knelt on the floor. One crying silently, the other rocking back and forth emotions torn between anger and fear for her friend.

"Guys," she spoke over my head, "shut the door and cancel club activities i have to take Nala home and make sure-"

"No!" she froze at my sudden shout. Burying my head in her shoulder i let out a sob. "Dad brought….companions...money...so...scared…I can't go home" in between sobs the words were torn out of my mouth in a jumbled mess.

"Nala! Nala breath alright?" Haruhi's frantic voice reached me through my horror, and i snapped back to reality. Scrambling to my feet and shoving off of her like she burned me i jumped back trying to keep the sobs contained. Fisting a hand in front of my mouth i spoke quietly,

"Sorry Haru. I'm..I'll be fine…" my tear streaked face spoke otherwise but as i took in my surroundings and the shocked stares of the boys i felt myself going red with embarrassment. "I'll wait for you at your house Haru, don't cancel because of me. I don't want to be a bother i know how much you need this. I-" my voice broke and i muffled another sob before opening my mouth again.

"Nonsense! Any friend of Haruhi's is a friend of ours, right men? We'll help you," My mouth dropped open at the boisterous blond's words and then my jaw hit the floor when he went to Haruhi's side and put an arm over her shoulder, "You must be the Nala we've all heard so much about. It's not under the best circumstances but it's a true pleasure to meet the girl who makes my beautiful daughter so happy." I couldn't help but smile at the soft, tender expression on his face as he glanced down at her and i tiptoed forward slowly, warily,

"Th-thank you..?"

"Suoh Tamaki." he supplied with a grin. Suddenly he dropped onto a knee in front of me and clasped my hand, "Now tell me princess, what can we do to help you."

Recovering my wit at that, i jerked my hand back and with a sigh i spoke.

"You can't do anything to help, i'll just need to be more on guard." Something flashed in Haruhi's eyes at that and before anyone knew what she was doing she marched over and smacked me. Jerking back i stared at her in shock while she regarded me angrily with tear filled eyes,

"I had to learn this lesson too Nala. It's ok to ask for some damn help. I'm your best friend and you barely ask me for anything but are always there when i need you," she pulled me into a crushing hug and i felt her shoulders shake as she cried softly, "Please Nal, please let me help you." My eyes started to tear up again and i forced a shaky laugh as i tried to wipe my eyes while hugging her,

"You know Haruhi? I've never cried this much in my life and here i am sobbing in front of a bunch of strangers. If i'm gonna accept their help at least introduce me first." Pulling back she wiped at her own tears and laughed a little at my somewhat more normal response to her.

"Right. That," she pointed to Tamaki, "Is the guy i told you about earlier on the phone, next is Ootori Kyoya," _Hmm glasses I was right, so you are the Ootori. Alright gotta watch out for him guy's with glasses are always the sneaky, smart ones._ "Then you have Haninozuka Mitsukuni or 'Honey' as well all call him, and Morinozuka Takashi or 'Mori' to us." _There's no way that little kid is that little he's obviously in high school otherwise he wouldn't be here and the tall guy? He seems quiet_, so he's one of the silent stalwart types who protects the fragile looking one.

"Nala? Naaalllaa?" Haruhi's waving her hand in front of my face jerked me back to reality.

"Right...sorry Haru where were you?' She frowned at me before beckoning to the twins,

"These are Hitachiin Kaoru and Hikaru." They nodded at me, faces schooled to look bored but their eyes glinted warily. So _these two are the sneaky ones Haru mentioned...i'll have to watch out for them as well._

"Miss Fuyumi would you like to lie down perhaps?" Glasses, err, Kyoya questioned me. I flicked a glance towards him and his glasses flashed. _Cccreeeeeeepppyyyy_.

"Yeah, that would be kinda nice. Also while i'm here please keep the glasses flashing to a minimum 'kay? It's kinda disturbing and i'm not sure if you're doing it to scare me or something but trust me i'm not gonna do anything you don't want me doing." He nodded with a small smirk, when i got scred i acted brave, and i think he could tell. If his smirk was anything to go by.

"So you say Miss Fuyumi but we'll see. As for now though you have our help. As long as you do nothing to hurt the club i'm sure we'll get along quite well."

"Kyoya!" Tamaki and Haruhi both snapped.

"She doesn't need to hear that at an obviously trying moment."

Tamaki frowned while Haruhi snapped,

"She's not gonna hurt any of us Kyoya and so help me if you hurt her... "

She trailed off and began advancing on him causing the twins to hold her back. A soft smile lit up my face and i chuckled softly in an attempt to push my sad thoughts aside. I had only a few rules which i strictly adhered to, one of them being that i would always do my best to stay cheerful no matter what happened.

"Takashi and I will show her to a room." a little voice piped up and i smiled at the small boy next to me,

"Thank you Han-"

"Honey please." i blinked at him and he smiled up at me gently, "Call me Honey and call Takashi Mori. It'll make us happy if you do." I blinked again before nodding my head.

"Alright Honey I can do that…give me a second though before we go i have to say something." Clearing my throat i stepped forward catching the attention of all the club members. "I'd like to apologize for rudely bursting in on you all like i did. This was the first place i thought of, and i just hurried right in. I apologize for being an inconvenience to you all."

Bowing after i finished i was hurriedly told by Tamaki, Honey, and Haruhi that it was alright, and Mori nodded along with them, but the eyes of Kyoya and the twins watched me far more warily. _Why do i get the feeling that they don't trust or like me very much? _With no one to ask that to at the moment, i let Haruhi and Honey lead me to a small side room with Tamaki hurrying along with us fretting over me and Mori bringing up the rear.


	3. Chapter 3

After leading me to a 'small' side room, Tamaki began apologizing for how poorly cared for it was, but all i could do was wave him aside and stand staring in shock at the 'small' room. It was at least the size of a school classroom, with a plush looking sofa and several giant, cushioned chairs, the kind of type you curl up in and sleep in because they're practically the size of a small couch themselves. A desk was against the far wall next to the floor to ceiling window which overlooked the gardens and campus. Hurrying towards the window, i put my hands up against the glass like a little kid and gazed out in awe over Ouran's grounds.

"It's so beautiful." I murmured to myself.

"You like it Nal-chan?" Honey's soft voice behind me made the first real smile i'd had all day spread across my face.

"Like it? Honey I _love _it_._" Spinning i grinned at him, and then at the ever silent Mori. "I can hardly believe you come to school here Haru...this..this is amazing. Sure i saw the brochures, but dude...they didn't show half of it. This place? Wow Haruhi, just….wow."

"It's decided then!" Tamaki's dramatic voice had me spinning to face him, "Whenever you are staying here at the host club you shall use this room and no other!" I sweatdropped.

"Senpai…" Haruhi trailed off, "Isn't this Kyoya's study room?"

Now it was Tamaki's turn to sweatdrop.

"Oh right...well i'm sure he won't mind giving it up for her."

"No!" They both turned to face me when i spoke, "I'm not taking his study room i'll stay in the main room with you guys 'kay? Gosh, i know i came in like a whining puppy but i promise i'm normally stronger than that. You guys don't have to worry about me, in fact since you guys don't need to worry about me at all i'll head out alright? You guys need to open the club today, and i don't want to be a burden anymore so than i already am." Taking a deep breath, and pasting on a brave smile Ii turned to face Haruhi, "I'll wait for you at your apartment and we can talk then ok? I'm just...i dunno if i can do it here i don't wanna cry again in front of these guys anymore it must be just as awkward for them as it is for me."

She snorted at me, her brown eyes knowing.

"You'd be surprised by the number of crying girls that come through here on a daily basis, and don't you dare leave this room," she pointed at the couch, "Sit."

"But Haruhiiiiii." i whined.

"No, go sit." glancing at the other's she spoke, "Why don't you guys go, and we'll get you when we're ready."

Tamaki pouted but Honey happily exclaimed,

C'mon Tama-chan we'll go get cake!" and cheerfully skipped out of the room with a silent Mori going after him, pulling a sullen Tamaki out by the collar of his shirt.

I smiled sadly and ignoring Haruhi's command to sit down i went back to the window noticing the small smudges my hands had left on it. I took the corner of my sweatshirt sleeve and rubbed at it in the vain attempt to make it disappear.

"Nala you can't hide from talking about this for forever, and you know i'm perfectly willing to sit here and wait for you no matter how long it takes." Shoulders slumping, and eyes downcast i turned back to her and took a seat on the couch facing her.

"I got off the phone with you and was heading out 'cause i was gonna surprise you but showing up here to meet the guy you'd just mentioned and then..."

Ten minutes later Haruhi was staring at me with her big doe eyes full of shock and horror. My own green eyes were staring pointedly at a spot on the wall over her shoulder, and were so dry they burned but i refused to let anymore tears fall.

"That bastard." Haruhi's whisper cut through the silence making me flinch. She slid off the seat across from me and pulling me to my feet embraced me again. This time she was the one crying not me, "We'll make him pay Nala. You have to go to the police this time, it's gone too far. If he's done it once he'll do it again we both know he will." Holding her tighter i could only shake my head no. "Why!?" she spoke softly pulling back so she could look me in the eyes, but not letting go of my shoulders. "You're gonna get hurt. I know how much he means to you but it's better to-"

"it's not him though." She blinked at my sudden interruption and stared at me quizzically. "i could care less what happens to him, but I can't quit school Haru we both know that. I can't quit my schooling for a job to pay the lawyers expenses. I also refuse to be dumped in a foster home for two years. I'd rather suffer through and continue with my schooling than give it all up." She let go of me and began pacing while i went back to sit on the couch.

"There must be an alternative...maybe we can have the city pay tuition if we have the lawyers do it right….and we know you can stay with me for the next few years….." I shut my eyes knowing it was best for her to think in peace. I'd barely had them shut for a moment though, when she exclaimed, "I've got it!" My head snapped up at her exuberant tone, "Enroll at Ouran!" I blinked.

"I can't afford it though…."

"Yes you can!" Her eyes were fairly dancing, "The same why i did!" My eyes widened with understanding.

"Haruhi you're absolutely brilliant!" a grin threatened to split my face and i leapt to my feet running to her and grabbing her hands i swung us both around in excitement, "How soon can we do this?"

"Relatively soon Miss Fuyumi."

"Aaayyyeeeee!" i nearly jumped out of my skin as Kyoya's voice came through a loudspeaker. "What the actual heck Ootori!" The door to his study room opened a moment later and he casually strolled in. I sweatdropped, _yep definitely the freaky smart, sneaky type damn you Ootori._ I glared at him, "How'd you do that?" His cold smirk had the intended effect of causing me to wince and it only grew a little deeper when i did.

"I've been doing some research on you Miss Fuyumi. A musical singing prodigy from a young age, you were set up to be an amazing, touring singer by the time you hit eighteen. The passing of your mother at age nine caused your father Fuyumi Ren to pull you out of the prestigious music school you were attending and to drop all music courses in the public school he sent you to." I could feel myself shrinking as he and his shadow grew and began looming over me, "Of course i also know that you never quit music. Dj-ing at any opportunity you could find, and singing at parties. how would you feel about enrolling as a music student?" He cocked his head, I sweatdropped.

"Why do i feel like that was a rhetorical question?" at my question his smirk deepened again.

"Of course it was, Tamaki has already had me submit your paperwork. Your interview is scheduled for next week on," he glanced at a little black book in his hand, "Tuesday at 1pm." Narrowing my eyes on him i slowly stepped over to him calling back over my shoulder,

"Haru go tell Tamaki i'm going to be out in a minute after i talk to Ootori 'kay? i could sense her hesitation and pausing to glance over my shoulder i flashed a smile, "Don't worry Haru, i'm not gonna like attack him. I just need to set some ground rules with this guy, and then Tamaki." she nodded slowly before exiting the room leaving the two of us alone. "Dude seriously?" i glared at him now to which he gave me a look of innocent confusion, "Don't pry too deeply Ootori you may not like what you find and i wouldn't want what you found to cause me to be a threat to the host club." He assessed me with his dark, unreadable eyes. "Oh trust me i already found that one out _Nala._" That one caused me to wince, "You suffered from deep hallucinations at a young age, always talking about mythical creatures that everyone believed didn't exist, soon you were put in a _special_ hospital. Tell me Nala, do you still believe in them? Or did you let the doctors change that part of you to?" i practically snarled at him.

"Stop pushing me Ootori. I'd much rather be your friend than you enemy."

"Then answer the question Miss Fuyumi" I just glared, "You know at this rate you're gonna get wrinkles and besides you look much better with a smile on." My glare abruptly disappeared and my jaw dropped. i could feel my face heating up and i look down muttering,

"Stop flirting ya creeper!" After a few moments of silence as he waited for me to talk, i straightened my shoulders and looked back up meeting him straight in the eye. "What if i did say i still believed in them? You can't do much about it if i do. I saw things when i was little that no rational explanation could cover up. I saw _monsters_ Ootori. Forgive me for refusing to think that just because i don't see them these days, that the things that go bump in the night are completely gone. Oh and also don't listen in on my private conversations!" He nodded slowly, seeming to ignore the last part of my response. Tucking his black book under his arm, he turned to leave. Before he exited the room though he paused,

"Right answer Miss Fuyumi. I think you and I will be able to get along fine as long as your, hm, _situation_ doesn't hurt the club members, or its reputation. Although, if you're scared of things that go bump in the night this place may not be the best place for you. And avoid the twins if that's the case." Pulling the door open, he left the room, and me standing there with my head cocked, eyes confused, and mind swirling with a million questions. _I never said i was scared of those things Ootori, so i won't be avoiding anyone because of that. You'll see Mr all powerful, I don't hide from those things, besides the twins can't be that bad. _Glancing around the edge of the room, i spotted a camera in the corner and smirked up at it before speaking out loud,

"You're on Ootori." _Now it's time to go find Tamaki..._


	4. Chapter 4

A few minutes later, i somehow found myself holding an ice pack to my face while Honey ate cake next to me and Haruhi harshly rebuked Tamaki in the background with the twins cackling away evilly at the scene. _How did this happen again? Oh right…_

I'd stepped out of the room a moment after Kyoya and had gone searching for Tamaki only to find him freaking at the twins for some reason. Not noticing me, he'd been swinging his arms around trying to make a point, and somehow a baseball bat had appeared out of no where in his hands. As he pulled it back to soundly thwack the twins with it, I had tried to leap back but hadn't been fast enough and had been wacked right in the face. As i watched, Kyoya walked over and said something quietly to them both which caused Haruhi to sweatdrop and Tamaki to somehow end up in the corner growing mushrooms.

"Say Honey-kun...is that normal?" He swallowed loudly before turning to me.

"What's normal Nal-chan?" It made me smile inside having him call me by the endearing term not even an hour after knowing me.

"What Ootori just did, he's obviously highly skilled at manipulation but is it normal for it to be such a daily occurrence...and does no one else notice that Tamaki is _growing mushrooms?!" _Honey laughed,

"Kyo-chan? He always does that, he likes Tama-chan but he also likes order." He leaned around me and giggled at the sight of Tamaki. "Tama-chan is in his corner. He does that when he thinks Haru-chan is being mean, or when someone says something he doesn't like." I nodded sagely at Honey's words, and opened my mouth to speak when a sudden voice at my shoulder caused me to jump five feet in the air.

"Kyoya doesn't want you stirring up trouble for the club either,"

"He'll be watching you since you seem like the type."

Identical voices on either side of my face left me no room to turn my head and address either speaker. So I opted on looking straight ahead while snarkily replying,

"Well you see it's not like i planned to almost get raped, sorry for causing you any inconvenience. Besides in my defense I did offer to leave and if i do remember correctly your own club member wouldn't let me." The sudden stillness of the room and its members caused me to freeze. _Crap! I need to learn to keep my mouth shut._ The twins pulled away from me and i took a breath i didn't know i'd been holding. Swiveling on my seat, i caught them exchanging a keen glance and before i was able to move anymore they jumped over to me and grabbing me under the arms began to pull me to another side room.

"That explains her appearance," the one on my left murmured to the other.

"We can't just have her going off in public like this can we." The twin on my right responded.

"Oy! I'm right here ya know!" Squirming i tried to pull out of their grip but they refused to release me causing nervousness to bubble up inside me.

"You can't go out in public looking like this, people will start to ask questions before you can make it to the police station. I'm sure you don't want that." Kyoya's voice spoke from behind me. _And i'm sure what you meant to say was that 'we' don't need this._ I scowled at him over my shoulder,

"Fine that makes sense but can you not have your lackeys drag me around right now? I don't know these guys and as much as Haruhi will vouch for them I have to go by my own instinct right now, and something tells me being alone with these two won't end well for any of us."

"Sheesh we're just trying to help," They spoke in unison on either side of me. "Stubborn."

"I'm stubborn? You guys are ones to talk! Especially if all the stories i've heard are entirely-*_hiccup_*." I froze.

"What,"

"Was that?" Yanking myself out of their grip, i could feel my face going bright red and i spun to face them waving my hands around "N-nothi-*_hiccup_*." I must've looked like a mad woman standing there, face flaming, waving my hands around with a look of stark horror and embarrassment on my face. One of them let out a snicker, and a moment later they broke down laughing.

"Oy! Don't laugh at my precious daughter! You shady twins!" Tamaki pulled his, from what i could already tell, regular stunt of appearing out of no where and started shouting at them. Glancing from them on the floor, to Kyoya standing by writing in his little black book pretending to be oblivous, to Honey on Mori's shoulder's eating cake with a childish smile, to Haruhi who stood there shaking her head and sweatdropping, i felt something in my chest. It was a strange feeling, like something clicked into place. The little click was followed by a soft, warm rush through my body and i felt like i'd been enveloped in a big, snuggly, soft blanket. My mind seemed to empty for a moment before filling back up with a new knowledge of what i needed to do, and how i was going to do it.

Sliding backwards i snuck out of the host club while they were all distracted but leaving a small note on the table with a piece of paper and a stub of a pencil i pulled out of my pocket. As soon as i was back in the hall i ran. I flew down the halls again, except instead of being filled with determination, i was full of determination. _Haru is right. I'm gonna go to the police right now..before i lose the motivation._ A small smile slid over my face but slipped away almost immediately. _I shouldn't be happy about this_.._but, somehow i can't find it in myself to be upset over it._ I glanced longingly at the banisters but ran down the stairs instead of sliding like i would've preferred. _If i'm going to enroll i can't be goofing off in the school._ Finally arriving outside the doors of Ouran, i went to pull out my phone only to not find it. After checking all my pockets, i paled a little, _I must've left it at home..shit..can't go back now..._Sighing i looked up at the bright, blue sky muttering,

"I'll call Haru from the police station." and started walking.

*Timeskip brought to you by the one and only Usa-chan because scenes about walking are….ehh*

It had taken me some time, but i'd finally arrived at the police station. Taking a deep breath and bracing myself mentally, i pushed the doors open and entered. At first no one noticed the small, green eyed girl standing by the doors as they rushed about their business, but after a moment of me standing there, an officer behind what appeared to be designated as the main front desk.

"Hello there miss, can i help you? Are you lost?" I flicked my eyes over him warily, he was a heavy set, pot bellied man, with a greying beard and deep set grey eyes. His face was covered in wrinkles and his hair was cut short, but what prompted me to answer his query were the laugh lines at the corners of his eyes. He had so many of them he almost looked like he was smiling even though he wasn't. It made me think of an old friend of mine's stories about her country's Santa Clause. Directing my eyes to meet his, i felt my courage waver, but swallowing heavily i almost whispered,

"I'd like to report a case of domestic abuse and the attempted prostitution of a minor." His eyes went wide and he spun suddenly bellowing,

"We've got a live one! Someone call Maria!" Turning back to me, he frowned heavily but not at me, it was for me. Speaking soothingly now he rumbled in a deep. gruff voice,

"Do you feel safe coming with me to the conference room so we can take your statement? Or would you prefer to have a female officer with you?" I looked down at the ground feeling my bravado slip away now that i was actually here and doing it. "I..uh.." Coming over to me from behind the desk, he gently placed a hand on my shoulder causing me to flinch. He instantly retracted it. "That's all the answer i need miss. Please wait here with me for a female officer to come escort you to the conference room." Even as he spoke, a hassled looking young woman came sprinting through the office.

"I'm cccooommmiinnnnggg!" Her wild blond curls were everywhere, and her glasses almost slid off her nose as she skid to a halt in front of me. For some reason, her wild state of disarray, and the contrast it supplied to the uptight looking men and women who were scattered around the office, instantly calmed me down. She held out a hand to me, "Hello! I'm Detective Maria Fernello. I work with the kids who come through here on our cases." Hesitantly reaching a hand out to her, i placed my own scratched up hand into her calloused one and gave her a firm handshake. She smiled down at me. "Come along dearie and i'll take you to the conference room and we can chat there away from all the stuffy blue collars around here." A couple of people around us grumbled while a few, including the nice man who'd originally helped me, laughed.

Following her silently to the small room, i watched her from behind, pondering the strange lady that she seemed to be. She didn't seem to care too much for her appearance as her wild, seemingly untamed, blond curls would attest to, but she was dressed so smartly that you couldn't quite tell. _She probably looks like a supermodel next to me, her suit looks so neatly pressed and here i am in leggings and an old sweatshirt that almost brushes my knees._ "Take a seat darling," she waved to an empty chair at the long conference table before pulling a small notepad out of her pocket. Sitting down across from me, her baby blue eyes were soft as they assessed me in return, taking in my clothes, tangled hair, and scratched hands. "Is there anything i can get you before we begin? Coffee? Tea? I'm not from Japan so i can't say i fancy the stuff. Back in the states i always drink coffee but it's your call dear." The corner of my lip quirked up, but i looked down murmuring,

"Nothing for now, thank you." She nodded, her eyes sharpening as she pulled out a pen from her coat pocket.

"Can you tell me your name please?"

Fuyumi Nala, but please call me Nala." She nodded and started writing.

"Alright Nala, then call me Maria. Now, can you please tell me what happened and who did this to you?" I flinched,

"M-my father." I almost choked on the words, a deep sense of shame filling me up at them. "I'm 16 years old, my mother passed away when i was 9. After she died my father…" I paused for a moment, but at her soft look of encouragement continued, "My father changed. He'd always been a distant man to me growing up, but this? This was different. I soon found myself fending for myself. He would disappear nights, even days at a time leaving me to take care of the house, food for myself, getting back and forth between school. When times got really tough i'd stay with my best friend Haruhi-

"I'm sorry i have to interrupt you there darling. Who is your friend Haruhi?"

"It's ok Maria-sama. But her name is Fujioka Haruhi. Our mothers were good friends and both worked in the same law firm that's how we met. She and her father don't know a lot of this though i never let them get the worst details. They know my father would disappear but i never told them how long he'd be gone for and they knew he brought his women home but i told them not to say anything because at the time he wasn't directly harming me." She nodded, frowning heavily,

"I understand. please continue." Taking a deep breath i plunged headfirst back into the details of my childhood.

"Right. Umm...oh yeah. I'd stay with Haruhi when it got bad. By the time i was 11 he was bringing his whores, drugs, and alcohol home with him-" She let out a soft gasp and i heard her pen drop. My eyes whipped up to look at her from where i'd been studiously studying a scratch on the table's varnish. Her own baby blues were full of sadness. Standing up from her spot across the table she moved around it and enfolded me in a hug.

"I'm so sorry." Her whisper was full of anguish. "I don't care how many times i hear this tale and others similar to it i will always ache inside for you children. Knowing there are people in this world who would do such horrible things? It sickens me. I promise i'll help you Nala. I promise." I smiled and wrapped my arms around her,

"Thank you Maria-sama. I know you will." Pulling back, she wiped her teary eyes on her sleeves then did something that quite surprised me. Instead of moving around across the table like i'd expected she leaned over, dragged her notebook to her, plopped into the chair next to me, and picked up my hand in one of hers.

"I have a younger cousin," she murmured to me, "I'm going to help you the same way i'd do for her. You're family to me now Nala." Tears sprung to my eyes at that and i hastily raised my hands to wipe my eyes dry before smiling at her in thanks. Placing my hand back in hers, i continued my story.

"Well...that continued for the next two years or so, but when i turned 13 Haruhi and i started worrying for real. I started to develope a more..._feminine_ figure. It was the eve of my thirteenth birthday when my father commented on it saying i 'might be able to be put to use for him after all'." Her hand tightened around mine. "I was so scared at that, because by then i was old enough to understand what he meant, that I ran and stayed with Haruhi for 3 days. When i dared to venture back home he seemed entirely normal, and i hoped and prayed with all my might he'd forgotten about it and me. Things proceeded as so for the last 3 years until this morning. I was on the phone with Haruhi, and had just gotten up because i was going to surprise her. I stepped out into the hall and heard my dad arrive. At firsts i assumed it was just him and his floozy, but then..then he called to another person in the room."

Here i faltered again, but after a moment of silence i pushed forward. "He...he told the person where my room was….but demanded he pay him first before he went and..._took me._ My own damn father's greed for money was what saved me. if i'd even had a second less...i don't think i'd have made it. Even so he almost caught me. " I held up my free hand as proof. "I fled and went to Ouran Academy and went straight to Haruhi and her friends. They helped me calm down and one of them, Tamaki-kun, he's Haruhi's significant other, told me that Haru's friend's were the club's friends. They are going to help me put my father away." Green eyes met blue and blazed with determination. "I refuse to have my father continue doing this. It's time i take charge of my own life. I'll admit it was a smack in the face that brought me to my senses, but i can do this now that i know what needs to be done." I clasped her hand in both if mine and leaned closer speaking quietly, yet fervently. "My father needs to go away Maria-sama. Somewhere far enough away and secure enough that i can feel safe." She nodded, her eyes just as determined as mine and full of righteous anger.

"We'll put him away fro a long time. Before you call whoever it is you need to call though, can you describe to me the man who you're father brought with him?" Opening my mouth to do so, my gaze strayed over her shoulder at the sight of some commotion at the front desk, and i went pale. I felt the blood rush from my face and a cold wave seemed to descend over my body as i shakily raised my hand and pointed to the man standing at the front desk with my father, dressed in full police uniform. "It's him."

**Author's note**

Dun dun duhhhh Cliffhanger! So i wanted y'all to get her background story sooner rather than later. I prefer that than to have the 'mysterious' background drag on...and on...and ooonnnn. Anywho let me know what you think of this chapter i stayed up past midnight trying to finish it up for y'all! :D Also! speaking of updating, school days will be sketchy for me. Most of my updating will probably be done on weekends but i'll try my hardest to update as much as possible! Again constructive criticism is always great and let me know what you guys think of Nala's character so far..ooh and Maria to hehe gotta love foreshadowing for those of you who picked up on the subtle hints in this chapter...anyway i'll leave you guys in peace for now sayonara!


	5. Chapter 5

Maria spun to look where i was pointing and froze. "Nala," her voice was low and tense. "Are you absolutely positive that's him? The man in the uniform with the other man at the front desk?" I jerked my extended arm back towards my body and tucked it over my stomach protectively.

"Y-yes. P-positive." Fear caused my voice to go shaky as i spoke, and my vision began to tunnel as the memory of the panic and fear i'd felt only hours before began to show itself.

"Nala!" Suddenly Maria was filling my vision, leaning close to me to block my sight of the man. Snapping her fingers in front of my face, she brought my attention back to her rather than the emotions coursing through my body. "Focus on me Nala. Not him. I won't ever let him hurt you again you're safe now. Breath for me, yes that's it. Deep breath in, now slowly let it out. Good girl." She turned to glance over her shoulder but still kept her body blocking my view. "Who's the man with him hun? Is that your father?"

"Y-yeah that's him. Fuyumi Ren." She nodded briskly and turned back to me.

"Nala we have to confront him before he can leave. I need you to do something though...pretend you don't recognize the man next to him." My eyes jerked up to her,

"What!?" Grasping my shoulders, she looked down at me with now stormy blue eyes full of seriousness and anger.

"Nala, honey, that man with your father is officer Tokiya Yuro. He has been under covert investigation by not only myself but several other officers, including the chief of our department, for suspected drug smuggling and being on the payroll of some pretty dangerous drug lords. So far we've been working only off of suspicions and rumors but with your conviction of him we might be able to finally bring him down." The blond woman held up a hand to stop me from talking as i opened my mouth to voice my question. "Before you ask why i can't just arrest him now, let me explain a bit more. As much as i'd like to march out there and book them both at this very moment, i'm under express orders from the captain of the department that if i were to ever have a case like this where we had solid proof i'm not allowed to confront Tokiya without the captain's permission on it. He wants an extremely solid case, and to be able to bring down those that Tokiya is working for. I don't have the authority at this moment to go out and arrest him. Your father on the other hand...well would you like to stay here while i take care of him or would you feel safer coming with me?" I looked down at the ground in not only anger but shame.

"I...i'd like to come with you...i….i need to see the look in his eyes when you arrest him…" I felt her nod more than saw it.

"I understand. Please stay by officer Atsushi though." At my blank stare she clarified, "The guy who was manning the front desk when you got here. He's also in on the Tokiya investigation and will keep you safe whenever i'm not able to be there for you." I opened my mouth to ask a question, but was cut off by sudden commotion by the front desk. Jumping around Maria, i stared in horror at the sight across the room. My father had been shouting something and when he moved it revealed the small figure standing there whom he was yelling at. It was Haruhi. She was standing there arms fisted by her sides, jaw clenched in determination while she glared at him.

"Crap." i whispered and without hesitation i ran out of the office and sprinted towards them. Haruhi snapped something but i was too far away to hear but whatever it was it wasn't good, my obviously intoxicated father drew his hand back as if he was going to hit her. "NO!" i screamed and shoving off the ground, i tackled my father before he could hit my best friend. "Don't you touch her! You _bastard! _You can't touch her ever! i won't let you!_" _I leapt off of him and put myself between him and my best friend. Staggering to his feet, my father snarled right back at me.

"Where have you been you little…." He cut himself off before he snapped several choice words. Stepping forward he suddenly snagged my wrist and began tugging me towards the door, "Lets go. We're going home. You have a lot of explaining to do and things to take care of."

"I would suggest you drop Nala's hand right now Mr Fuyumi. Of course if you don't i've been wanting a chance to try out my new stun gun. It's your choice." At the cool, calm female voice behind us, he spun but didn't drop my wrist.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" He glared at Maria as she stood there appearing to all the world as if she was at a salon getting her nails done rather than facing down a drunk man. The only revealing thing to her facade was the tightness around her eyes, and the way she was clenching and unclenching her hand at her side.

'I sir? _I_ am the woman saving your daughter." He frowned in confusion not understanding what she was implying due to his intoxicated state.

"Mind your own business. She doesn't need saving. What she needs is someone to teach her a lesson which i fully intend to do."

"On the contrary," Maria tipped up her chin and full on glared at him now, "I believe she does, most especially from you." He took a threatening step forward, dropping my wrist. The moment he did so Haruhi hurried over to me and clasped my hand in hers.

"If you don't stop meddling lady you're gonna regret it." She merely raised her eyebrows at his words,

"Is that a threat?" He took another small step forward getting in her face in an attempt to scare her. She didn't back down from him matching his anger filled stare with one of her own.

"It's whatever the hell you want it to be." His eyes raked up and down her body and he leered, "Of course i'd much rather take you somewhere nice and give you something we both will enjoy, but if threats are what it takes, it's what you'll get." At 38 my father wasn't a bad looking man, he was of average height, messy black hair, and piercing blue eyes. Nor was he overweight. For these reasons, I'd seen women swoon when he pulled his bad guy act for them before, but Maria didn't even blink. A quick glance around showed we had the entire room's attention. Several people were standing by warily hands by their hips ready to draw stuns guns in case he hurt her, while others stood back watching in shock at the scene unfolding. My gaze skimmed Tokiya and i shuddered but thankfully he was watching the scene happening in front of him rather than the small girl behind the action.

"Did you get all of that Officer Atsushi?" Maria's soft voice snapped my attention back to her as she stepped away from my father slowly. Even as she spoke to the other officer, her cool blue eyes remained on my father.

"I did detective." Nodding at his response she stepped forward, glasses flashing.

"Mr Fuyumi please turn around and put your hands behind your back. You're under arrest for the attempted prostitution of a minor, domestic abuse, and the harassment of a police officer." His jaw dropped and he began backing away.

"No...no! You can't do this!" She matched him step for step.

"I can Mr Fuyumi, and i am." Suddenly, without warning, he spun and attempted to run, forgetting the fact that A he was in a police station he wasn't getting far, and B that Haruhi and i were right behind him. His eyes were wide, red rimmed, and wild. All of the sudden, a split second before he reached us, *_crack!_* the sharp report of a firearm being discharged filled the room and with a scream Haruhi and i hit the floor. We were the only ones who screamed, but we weren't the only ones who hit the floor. My father went down, clutching his neck and slamming his head against the corner of a wooden table with enough force the table tipped with him. There was a moment of silence before,

"Someone call an ambulance!"

"Get pressure on that wound!"

"Damn you Tokiya you moron why'd you shoot!?" and

"The girls! Are the girls ok!?" This last from Maria. Similar shouts filled the room around us as Haruhi and i lay on the floor. Rolling over onto my side, my ears still ringing from the shot, i opened my eyes, and screamed again. My father's face lay inches away from my own, he was bleeding profusely and as i watched in some sick, horrified trance that pool of blood drew ever closer to where i was lying. I held no love for the man who lay in front of me bleeding to death, yet even so, a pang shot through me at the idea of him dead. He may have no love for me and vice versa, but he was my father by birth and it is not easy to imagine one from whom you came from as dead.

"Nala!?" Haruhi's sharp voice snapped me out of my daze, and rolling the opposite direction as fast as i could, i managed to sit up, grab a wastebasket next to a desk, and begin heaving into it. _Why? Why mommy? Why me? Why did i have to see this? _Tears pooled in my eyes but i refused to let them fall. _It hurts momma. It hurts so much. Please let me be dreaming. Let me wake up and find out that for once this nightmare isn't real._

"Fuck." I staggered to my feet snarling the bitter curse word under my breath. "Haruhi? Haru?" She didn't notice me at first, she was on her cell phone arguing with someone,

"No….No i'm fine senpai.…..no you don't have to come….look Tamaki-senpai please just have Kyoya get a room ready for Nala's father...yes...alright….FINE!...Bye." Flipping her phone shut she turned to face me. Her big doe eyes were wide with shock, and she was looking a little queasy. For a surreal moment i heard nothing, there was no sound, just the sight of what was happening in front of me. At the moment we were left alone, people rushed by, some to my father, other's to call the hospital, even Maria had been dragged aside by Tokiya and some other stranger and they appeared to be arguing furiously but she kept sending worried glances over at Haru and i. Finally she broke away from the two men and hurried over to us.

"Are you two alright?" Her voice was full of worry and she looked us up and down, checking to make sure neither of us were injured. One look at my face though and her own eyes flashed with sadness. "C'mere you to. You guys didn't need to see this i'm so sorry i didn't expect anything like this to happen." Like a mother, she pulled the two of us into a hug and began humming softly.

It had only been a few moments of that but a suddenly the door to the police station burst open and the paramedics rushed into the room with a stretcher and barking orders. They weren't the only ones to run in though.

"HARUHIIIIIII!" Tamaki burst through the doors along with the rest of the host club. Sprinting to her, he pulled her from the embrace of Maria and I and held her close burying her face in her hair. He appeared to be whispering soft things into her hair and i watched as Haruhi's big frightened eyes shut and clutching the front of Tamaki's shirt she buried her face against his chest. The rest of the host club gathered around her and even in my dazed state i noticed how close one of the twins was hovering, and the soft look of pain in his eyes when he gazed at Haruhi in Tamaki's arms.

"What happened here detective?" Kyoya's smooth voice cut through my focus on the twin jerking me back into my new, painful reality.

"I'm sorry sir i'm not authorized to disclose that information to the public." Kyoya's eyebrows went up. He obviously wasn't used to being told no and Maria's equally smooth refusal to his question seemed to surprise the boy. A soft gasp behind us had me stiffening and turning as a new voice gushed,

"Mr Ootori we weren't aware you would be here today. I apologize profusely for this young lady. She's a….new detective and doesn't understand the ropes yet." I was now facing a small, beady eyed, balding man. His voice was as oily as the little hair he had left on his head and let me tell you, there was some seriously major slickage going on there._I don't like you buddy back the hell up _my eyes narrowed. I felt Maria stiffen beside me at the little man's words and without thinking i rallied to the defense of my new friend.

"Maria was doing quite well sir. Thank you kindly for interrupting our conversation with Mr Ootori." His eyes widened before narrowing slightly, and letting out a forced chuckle he spoke.

"I didn't see much to interrupt my dear." I shuddered at the use of the endearment coming from him. Before i could speak though someone else joined our little group.

"Mr Ootori. A pleasure to see you. The captain sent me over to wish you welcome even though you seem to have caught us at a...bad time, and to thank you for your family's continued support of our precinct." From the corner of my eye i saw him beckon to the man with the oily voice and hair, and I felt myself grow pale. "Akito you and i also have to talk so find me later." Slowly, ever so slowly, i turned my head to look at the person speaking. Tall, with charcoal black hair, and piercing ice blue eyes, the man was the epitome of what a girl could look for, but as for me? I grew faint with horror. Being this near to the monster from the morning made my previously emptied stomach church with fresh dread, sweat broke out across my back and my hands began to shake. Maria took a half step in front of me effectively putting herself between Tokiya and I.

"Can i help you _officer?_" her cold voice made it obvious there was no love lost between them.

The man merely shrugged,

"I came over at the captains orders like i said. Also to apologize to the young lady. it was an….unconscious action of mine to draw and fire and i thought it best to...see how she was doing." He stepped around Maria and his eyes met mine. "My sincerest apologies miss Fuyumi." There was no apology in the icy depths though. My hands grew clammy and for a moment i couldn't breath. The pedophile in front of me raked his eyes over my small form and i saw the smile in his eyes when he realized exactly how short i was. I didn't even come up to his shoulder and he must've been over six feet. A cold voice interrupted my thoughts,

"Miss Fuyumi has had a long day. We are here to take her home unless she plans to visit the hospital first?" I mutely shook my head at Kyoya's question . "Well then, we'll be going. Good day officers. Also detective here's my card please feel free to call anytime i'm always available to help." Maria's eyes grew sharp with understanding but she murmured,

"Thank you. I'm sure you've already done quite enough," handing him her card in return she said, "Please do call me if there is a change in Mr Fuyumi's condition." He nodded but before he could pull me away, she tugged me closer to her and enfolded her in a hug. "Here take this," she whispered into my hair while covertly slipping something into my hand, "It's my private number, call me if you need help at all. I'll stop by later and we can talk more then." Out loud she said, "I'll see you later Miss Fuyumi." and released me back to Kyoya.

"Shall we then?" Nodding, still silent, i followed Kyoya back to the host club feeling Tokiya's eyes burning into my back the entire time.


	6. Chapter 6

The host club had all fit into the same limousine to get to the police station, yet even with the eight of us in the car, the ride was passing by with a tense silence.

"Are you ok Nal-chan?" Honey's soft voice made me look away blinking rapidly to keep the tears at bay.

"I'm alright Honey thank you though. " I wasn't alright, not at all. The image of my father barely breathing in a pool of his own blood was etched into my brain. Honey blinked up at me, and with a small attempted smile at the boy i put an arm around him and pulled him closer to me. He snuggled up against my side and within minutes was sleeping.

"Would you care to explain what happened back there Miss Fuyumi? Kyoya's voice was as emotionless as ever. I flicked my eyes towards him and found him watching me, head cocked, like i was a specimen under a microscope. Sighing i looked at Haruhi curled up against Tamaki and jokingly asked,

"He's not gonna let it go is he?" She shook her head.

"Nope he'll just find out for himself anyway"

"So you might as well tell him." I grimaced at the twins.

"You guys talk like that a lot huh?" They opened their mouths to reply but Kyoya cut them off.

"Don't change the subject Miss Fuyumi." I stuck my tongue out at him in an attempt to keep my mood up. _Follow the rules Nala C'mon girl you can do it!._

"I went to file my report of this morning. Then everything kinda went downhill from there…." I explained my story leaving out major details like who Tokiya was and my reaction to him but i could tell Kyoya wasn't fooled by my avoidance of it. He'd seen how i acted with the man and knew something was up.

After i explained i looked around at the boy's faces. Tamaki looked appalled and was making strange noises in his throat, Mori looked angry, Honey who appeared to have woken up while i was talking was scowling out the window, and the twins were frowning at me thoughtfully. Kyoya of course, looked as unfazed as ever which for some reason greatly annoyed me. "Do you _ever_ have any other facial expressions Ootori? Or do you really just walk around looking like a rock all day?" He raised an eyebrow at me and the mood in the car shifted. The twins burst out laughing at my abrupt comment, and Haruhi shook her head muttering,

"Brain filter Nala, brain filter." I sweatdropped.

"Sorry….that was rude..." i flicked a glance to Haruhi, " And you know i don't have one you got that half of the bran." she laughed and i looked back at Kyoya, "But seriously dude do you ever like, i don't know smile?" _If he does i have yet to see it..although granted we didn't meet under the most amazing circumstances... _

"For your information Miss-"

"Stop! Halt right there! It's NAAAALLLLAAAA not 'Miss Fuyumi'" i attempted to mimic his voice to which the twins began laughing again, "Call me Nala i can't really stand the name Fuyumi. Also my mom was 'Miss Fuyumi'. I'm...I'm just Nala." He nodded.

"Alright _Nala_. Yes i do make other facial expressions. But if this expression bothers you that much then by all means do let me know when i'm making it and i'll be sure to change it to fit your liking." His voice was all cool sarcasm and i narrowed my eyes. _I'll so take you on Ootori just you watch. Wanna bet i can't? We'll see who wins. _Out loud i said,

"I'll take you up on that Ootori. From this day on i'll be sure to remind you to smile. It's like you told me the first time we talked, 'You'll get wrinkles if you don't smile'." He frowned at me to which i cheerfully sang, "Oooottoorrii turn that frown upside down!" He went slack jawed, before slowly, a grin appeared, and it was my turn to let my jaw drop.

The boy was devastatingly handsome with the small smile on his face. Even though his eyes were as cold and calculating as ever, the smile made my heart flutter jjjjuuussssttt a little bit. "I'll take you up on your bet _Nala_." He mocked me almost playfully. "Let's make a deal though." Haruhi groaned, Mori made a 'hm'-ing noise, Tamaki just blinked in surprise, Honey cocked his head with a small, confused frown, and and the twins snickered. _Judging from their reactions this might not be the best idea…_

"You're on! Name your price Ootori!" He smirked now.

"If i change my facial expression every time you catch me with a face on that you don't like for the first week you're at Ouran, you'll come and work in the host club with us." Tamaki let out a cheer, but trailed off at Kyoya's glare.

"And if I win?" His smirk deepened.

"You' get anything from the host club that you want." I returned the smirk now.

"Oh i ain't gonna lose then. Just ask Haruhi, i almost never lose a bet."

"Nala...Kyoya _never _loses a bet…" She trailed off.

"Do it Nala we want to see Kyoya get owned for once!" The twins cheered.

"What do you think Mori? Honey?" Mori shrugged and Honey beamed at me,

"You could come have cake with me all the time Nal-chan if you do it!" I grinned at him and ruffled his hair.

"Alright Ootori," i grinned at him, "You're on."

*Kyoya's POV*

Nala Fuyumi was one of the most confusing girls i'd ever met. I seemed unable to predict her. When she first stumbled into the host club she'd looked lost and hurt, but she'd been more than willing to take me on when i had warned her not to mess with the host club. In the police station, she hadn't backed down in defense of her friend, but a moment later at the appearance of another police officer she'd been trembling in fear.

Now in the car, with tears in her eyes she'd looked down at Honey and smiled, her green eyes glistening with too many emotions to count but she assured him she was alright before pulling him close in a sideways hug. As she'd told her story her eyes had been distant as if she was reliving the time at the police station over again in her mind but something told me she wasn't telling us all the details. _I can research it later._ Now as i laid out the bet on the table she surprised me yet again by agreeing to take it when i'd expected her to refuse. Her eyes had flashed with emerald fire and she unknowingly toyed with the end of her long brown hair as she had thought it over, and i'd seen her blush when i flashed a smile, even though she seemed to be unaware she'd done so.

Oh yes, Miss Nala Fuyumi was not going to win this bet. I had every intention of getting her into the host club, because something told me life would be far more interesting for all of us with her there, and i never ignored a premonition.

******* Authors note******

This is my filler chapter i apologize it's so short but i needed something to lighten the mood after the last two chapters….so what do you think hmm? Kyoya and Nala? it will definitely be interesting that's for sure. I'm going to pick up the mood from this point out because you've got all the depressing back story and then what happened with her father so for now i'm going to focus on her time at Ouran with the host club….Again let me all know what you think, thoughts and ideas on her and Kyoya hehe funny story i was originally gonna do her with the twins but i do believe i'll save that for my next story….anyway tata for now and enjoy :)


	7. Chapter 7

It was Friday, my fourth day at Ouran, and i was losing my bet. My acceptance to Ouran on Tuesday had picked my awful, sad mood up, and overall i'd had a good week, Maria and i had been in touch, there was no change to my father's comatose state in the hospital and i was staying with Haruhi in her house. But the damn bet was ruining my good streak. _I have till next tuesday...i can do this i just have to make him slip up…._"Yeah like that'll happen." I moaned to myself and gently banged my head on my locker.

"Hey there Nala!" I nearly jumped out of my skin at the familiar voice right behind me. Spinning on my heel i found myself facing the twins. "We need your help with something." They chorused.

"Does it involve hurting animals?" They glanced at each other before looking back at me,

"Nope." Twin one stated.

"We need to stage a fight." Twin two supplied to which i raised an eyebrow.

"You guys do realize this is highly suspicious right? This is like the first time we've ever like actually talked and you're asking me to help you with one of your pranks. I dunno guys…" They smirked at me, which really didn't make me feel any better because i'd barely talked to them since i'd come to Ouran. They, to be quite frank, scared me a little bit with how they acted.

"If you'll help us, we'll help you with your bet." My eyes snapped up to meet their golden ones.

"Deal! What do you guys need from me?" They smirked and began unfolding their plan.

Several hours of boring classes later, i finally found myself heading up to the club room. Shoving the doors open i sailed in cheerily calling out, "Haruhiiii darlingggg!" She sat up from where she was slumped on the couch.

"Mmmm yeah Nala?" she yawned sleepily, and i grinned. _Perfect. _

Glancing around i discovered that so far we were the only two in the room. _Time to initiate plan part A._

"I need your help with something...I still can't tell the twins apart and i need pointers…" She gave me a blank stare, and opened her mouth to reply but before she could the door flew open and Tamaki bounded into the room.

"Ahh my darling daughter's are here!" He grinned at us and went to glomp Haruhi but i saved her...ahem i mean pushed her out of the way so he got the couch instead of her. Turning he pouted at me, "Why'd you do that Nalaaaa?"

"Because," I tapped him on the nose, "You're stronger than you think and i don't want Haru to get hurt by you even by accident." To prove my point i beckoned to the hole now in the couch where his fist had accidentally gone through. "Also don't you think it's weird that you call her your 'daughter' even though you guys are dating?" By the time i was done speaking, he was in his depressed corner and Haruhi was shaking her head at me in disbelief. "Crap...I'm sorry senpai! Don't be sad i was-"

"Not using your 'brain filter' again?" A smooth voice questioned me. With a scowl i turned and stuck my tongue out at Kyoya.

"Oy watch it Ootori! Although ya know i think my amazingness might be rubbing off on you. You used the term brain filter what's next? Are you going to start calling me your daughter to?" He smirked.

"Want to bet." My eyes grew wide in horror. I slid off the arm of the couch and stalking over to him, poked him in the chest for emphasis as i spoke.

"Didn't your parents ever teach you not to gamble? Don't take more than one bet at a time buddy or it won't end well." His infamous eyebrow shot up.

"You obviously don't know me well enough Miss Fuyumi-" I cut him off there.

"Hey! What have i told you about calling me that? It's _Nala!_" He chuckled and i felt my breath catch. In my last last few days of being with the host club, I'd noticed he never really, truly _laughed. _Sure he'd give off a fake something or another at the appropriate time, and he would smile for the girls that was for sure. But i was good at reading people, it was one of my few skills and there was always something about those smiles he gave the club's girls that just wasn't real. Not for him anyway.

"Pardon me _Nala_." I grinned up at him.

"You're pardoned!" Out of no where, a pair of arms were thrown over my shoulders and two voices chorused.

"Oy Nala! Play the Which One Is Hikaru game with us will you?" I glanced to my left and then my right and attempted to shrug their arms off, a bit iffy about them being in my personal space.

"Fine but get off of me first so i can at least look and see." They complied and i stood next to Kyoya and began examining them. Shutting one eye and biting my tongue i squinted at them for a few moments. I was aware of the other hosts watching as i was silent and when i knew for sure i had everyone's attention i exclaimed. "You," pointing to the twin on the left, "Are Hikaru you look sneakier," and pointing to the boy on the right, "And you're Kaoru you have this compliant look about you!" They frowned at me and i hesitantly asked, "Did i get it wrong…..?" They cocked their heads, "No." Then Hikaru spoke,

"Do you really think that Kaoru is compliant?" I made a face and said,

"Yep he just gives me that vibe you know?" Hikaru burst out laughing.

"Here that Kaoru? You're compliant? HAHAHA!" Kaoru jerked away from his twin and snapped,

"Yeah so what? At least i don't give her a _sneaky_ vibe like you do." Hikaru instantly stopped laughing.

"Well sneaky people are normally the smart ones. We have to be to be sneaky in the first place."

"Yeah? Tell that to your French lessons teacher." Kaoru retorted. Stepping back and behind Kyoya i peeked around his shoulder and whispered.

"What did i start here….." He pushed his glasses up and spoke back to me.

"Another one of their fights. They're rare but when they happen...well it's best to steer clear." I winced.

"Crap…" _Not. So far so good._ The twins were still yelling at each other, spitting insults like angry cats and to be quite frank it was slightly disturbing.

"At least _I_ clean up after myself around the house _Hikaru._"

"Yeah? Well at least i don't go around hitting on girls in school _Kaoru._" _Uhhh both of you guys do that….it's why you're hosts…._I sweatdropped.

"Haruhi," Kyoya beckoned to her, "Please go put a sign up on the door to let the customers know we'll be closed today." She nodded and headed off to do that.

"I should probably go then to. I don't think seeing me will help…" I turned to leave but something Kaoru shouted caused me to pause.

"I bet you like Nala don't you Hikaru? That's why you're so mad she said you're sneaky!" _That was NOT in the script they showed me_. i spun back around to face them and watched as Hikaru snapped, with eyes full of real anger.

"As if _I_ could like someone like _her_. She's not and never will be good enough for me." My eyes went wide in horror, and my stomach dropped. Kaoru's eyes widened in shock as well. He hadn't expected that response. Something told me that a fight that had been originally faked was about to get a helluva a lot more real. Kaoru's eyes narrowed and he snarled.

"What the hell do you mean someone like her? You don't even know her!"

"What and you do Kaoru?" Sparks snapped as their gazes met and i felt tears prick my eyes. Hikaru had meant what he said and that had hurt. The fact that he didn't think i was good enough for him cut through me hard. _Not like it matters cause i don't like him romantically anyway..._

"I, um, i'm gonna….." I trailed off and scurried away, tears streaking down my face. My exit though, didn't go unnoticed. The twins and Kyoya turned to watch me leave the room, followed by Haruhi.

*Third person's POV*

"I...i didn't…"

"Can it Hikaru. You think this will make Haruhi like you any better? We both know she's Tamaki's and you can't do anything about it, but don't take out your anger about that on Nala." Kaoru's voice was cold and he began to walk towards the door calling over his shoulder to his twin, "You can stay at home tonight i'm gonna find somewhere else to stay i can't stand to be near you right now." He left, leaving Honey, Mori, Tamaki and Kyoya staring at Hikaru in varying stages of anger and annoyance.

"Why'd you do that Hika-chan? you didn't need to hurt Nala's feelings like that."

"Mmm." He turned to face them and snapped.

"It wasn't on purpose it just slipped out!"

"I'd suggest you apologize to her when you have the chance. We don't need this getting out it'll be bad for business." Kyoya's words only caused Hikaru to scowl and stalk out of the room.

*Back to Nala's POV*

I brushed the tears away angrily as i stalked down the hallway ignoring Haruhi's voice as she called out to me. _Those lying little...they used me! I should've known they couldn't be trusted! I can't believe i fell for it. Am i really not good enough though? Is that what they think when they see me? Sure i'm not Haruhi but still…._

"Nala! Nala stop!" I was jerked out of my thoughts by Haruhi's voice as she grabbed onto my arm to stop my from walking away from her. "What was that all about Nala?" I turned to her and brushing at the tears running down my face i whispered.

"You heard him. I'm not good enough for him! I fell for their stupid trick they didn't want my help...they just wanted someone to be their verbal punching bag and i filled the spot nicely being the gullible girl i am." She stared at me blankly.

"That's not true Nala. The twins...well the twins get caught up in the heat of the moment. You can't take what they say personally, especially not Hikaru. He tends to snap things out and well….he doesn't mean it. You know he called me a racoon dog in their last fight? I was so pissed at them i ended up smacking them both for that one." She chuckled at the memory and i managed a grin.

"Really? You don't think he really meant it?" She nodded emphatically.

"I don't, they wouldn't-"

"Nala! Haruhi!" She was cut off by a familiar voice and we turned to see Kaoru racing down the hall. "Nala i'm so sorry! Hikaru didn't mean that i promise! He's just..upset and-" it was my turn to cut him off.

"I know Haru just explained it…" I trailed off and he blinked, shifting awkwardly now. "Suffice it say that yeah it hurt and Hikaru lost major points in my book for that but...I dunno i'll try not to hold it against him." Kaoru beamed at me.

"Thanks Nala!" He began shifting awkwardly again.

"Out with it Kaoru what do you want?" Haruhi's voice cut through the silence and he still chuckled nervously.

"Well about that...I kinda got mad at Hikaru and told him i'd find somewhere else to stay till he calmed down and uhhh i have no where else to stay so i was wondering if you guys could, you know…." I couldn't help but laugh at this causing him to flush and scowl at me but before he could say something Haruhi spoke.

"Alright you can stay with us but just nothing weird ok?" He instantly promised to be on his best behavior but i couldn't help but wonder what that would be.

Several hours later found us relaxing in Haruhi's house snacking on donuts and glasses of milk while we laughed and exchanged stories, the earlier sadness forgotten. Kaoru it turned out, was very amiable on his own. Granted i'd never really talked to either twin before today but i was discovering that it wasn't half bad one on one with this twin.

"And then Nala fell straight through the ice!" He and Haruhi were almost crying with laughter as she recounted me attempt to go ice skating on a barely frozen over pond the year before because i thought i was light enough to get away with it. I scowled at them for a moment, but ended up smiling and laughing along with them.

"Well we proved that i wasn't half as light as i thought i was, but it's not as bad as the time in middle school we went on a field trip to a lake and Haruhi was so focused on getting a stone at the bottom of the lake that she overextended with the net and fell off the pier." Kaoru gave her a look of incredulity and shook his head in disbelief while trying to contain his laughter.

"Anyway Kaoru," i grinned at him. "You're turn." He looked thoughtful for a moment before his eyes lit up and he began.

"Well once Hikaru…" He faltered and stopped talking looking down at the ground. Without thinking i leaned towards him and gently patted his hand with one of mine causing his golden eyes to snap to me.

"You really do care for him don't you." It wasn't a question, but he nodded his head yes anyway.

"Why not try and make up with him then? Nothing good will come of you two fighting like this." Haruhi backed me up now.

"I...well...i would but you see…." His eyes flicked to Haruhi before he looked back down. "The fight was fake originally, you know that Nala," Haruhi's gaze cut to me but i gave her an 'i'll tell you later look' effectively silencing her questions. "Well it turned real when he said that and...we've never truly fought before. I've never stormed off like that….i know he didn't really mean what he said but still….I couldn't not stand up for you Nala. Hikaru may not have noticed but you're the second person who's been able to see us as we are. He hasn't thought about that part, because, well…" Here he trailed off awkwardly and taking a page from the twin's book i finished his sentence by saying,

"Because he's still caught up with Haruhi." When her eyes went wide in surprise at his murmured yes i shook my head at her and said, "How can you not have noticed Haru? He watches you so...softly. He gets this light in his eyes whenever he looks at you and it always dims when he remembers he can't have you cause you're dating Tamaki. Personally I'd say you could always break up with Tamaki but i don't think you're gonna do that, and i like him so i'm not saying break up with him, so you should talk to Hikaru about it." She blinked at me and nodded.

"Yeah i should. Alright i can try that next week when we see him at the club. And you're right i can't break up with Tamaki it's a bit more complicated than th-" Kaoru began coughing harshly into his hand while cutting Haruhi a look that had her instantly quiet. I raised an eyebrow and flicked my gaze between the two of them.

"What on earth was that about you two?" Haruhi looked horrified and began mumbling.

"Nothing...nothing at all…"

"You're a horrible liar.' I deadpanned. Turning to Kaoru, i gave him a questioning glance but he began looking everywhere but at me. Throwing my hands up in the air, i slid off my chair exclaiming, "Alright fine i get it! I'm heading to my room it's late so y'all have fun now." and exited the room.

"She'll be over it soon she never can stay mad at a person." I heard Haruhi whisper to Kaoru so i hollered over my shoulder,

"Don't you bet on i this time Haruhi Fujioka! You either Hitachiin!" I was standing in the hall now by the front door as i spoke, and was the closest to the front door when the doorbell rang, so a moment later i shouted, "Got it!" and sprinted to open the door. Flinging it open i opened my mouth to greet the person when suddenly, i was thrown backwards across the hall, crashing into a small table at the end of it.

With a moan i opened my eyes to find a tall figure shrouded in darkness leaping at me. I shrieked in horror, but right before it reached me, i large tiger slammed into it from out of no where. My jaw dropped. _What the fuck is happening!?__**. **_ Suddenly Haruhi was at my side.

"Move Nala!" she grabbed my arm and tugged me to my feet before dragging me into a small side room. Letting go of my arm, she slammed the door shut and pushed me behind the desk in her room. I sat there shell shocked. I could've sworn i was sleeping, except when i pinched myself the sharp pain did nothing in the way of bringing me out of the alleged dream. No all it did was sting like a bitch.

"Haruhi...Haruhi what is happening!?" My voice was raspy with shock and from screaming at the top of my lungs. A crash sounded in the outside hall, followed by an enraged yowl. Instead of answering my question Haruhi chucked a phone at me.

"Call Kyoya, Nala. His number is on speed dial press 2." At my hesitation her voice turned pleading. "Please Nala Kaoru can't hold him off by himself for long." My eyes bulged _That was Kaoru!? What the fuck?! He's a tiger!?._

"I'm so confused.." at my soft whisper Haruhi paused in her frantic attempt to blockade the door and looking over at me she held out her hand pinky up.

"I swear that after this is over i'll explain everything to you alright? Just call Kyoya." I grasped her pinky with mine briefly before letting it go and pressing the number. He picked up on the first ring.

"Nala?" _How the hell did he know…._

"Y-yeah it's m-me. Get to Haruhi's apartment pronto. Some crazy ass shit is going down. Kaoru is a tiger and some guy threw me across the hall and they're fighting now and it's scary as fuck but for some reason i'm calling you and not the cops." I was breathing heavily after pouring that all out and there was a brief moment of silence before Kyoya's calm voice responded.

"Kaoru will be able to hold him off long enough. Tamaki is already on his way with Hikaru. We'll be there soon." then, he hung up. I stared at the phone in my hand in shock.

"Nala what did he say?!" Haruhi's voice was frantic and snapped me out of my shock.

"The slimy little...he hung up on me! Who does that!?"

"Nala!" Haruhi snapped.

"Right. Tamaki and Hikaru are already on their way they'll be here soon." She nodded looking relieved and opened her mouth to say something but before she could, the door crashed in and the tiger rolled in after it. i stared in horror at the scene in front of me. Haruhi appeared to be unconscious, the tiger who was apparently Kaoru was blocking the door, crouched, hackles raised as he faced the intruder who was still shrouded in darkness.

It all changed for the worst when a split second later, the creature in the hall leapt, and shoved Kaoru out the bedroom was the briefest moment of silence, before the sound of shattering glass, and the thud of a body hitting the ground outside the apartment building.

"KAORU!" i shrieked. Bbbiiiggg mistake. My previously unnoticed presence was what the creature immediately locked onto and with a shudder i stared at the creature in front of me. I was facing an _Oni, a _demon, and from the look of things, he wasn't the friendly neighborhood Casper.

**Author's Note**

Mwahaha bet y'all didn't see this coming! Well for those of you who read the description and saw i put it under 'supernatural' then i'm so proud of you! Yes i did mention in an earlier chapter i was gonna incorporate some supernatural elements and i know i kinda ended up whacking you in the face with them in this chapter with a demon and a shape shifting Kaoru….but i've always wanted to make my own twist of the OHSHC. Please please PLEASE let me know what you all think...i want to know if you guys think this will work out...A i jumping around too much with this chapter? I promise it'll be explained in the next two. Anywho yes let me know what you all think, bye for now!


	8. Chapter 8

The _Oni's _stare held me captive. Its glowing red eyes glittered maliciously in the dim light coming through the broken window, and its shadow stretched across the room over both Haruhi's unconscious form, and my paralyzed one. _What is happening!? These things aren't real! They're fairy tale villains! Nightmares! Figmentations of the imaginamiliation! _

I could hear my heart pounding in my ears, sweat beading across my back as the creature and i sized each other up. It could've been minutes, hours, days that we watched each other, but at that moment time was a foreign concept. All i knew then was the pounding of my heart through my body, and the glowing red eyes, and open, fang filled mouth of the monster. Suddenly, the creature let out a roar and sprang. My heart stopped, and red filled my vision. You know how everyone says that your life flashes before your eyes right before you die? Well….if that's the case then either i've never had anything happen in my life, or it's just not how it works. My last thought before passing out was something along the lines of _I wonder if the neighbors are hearing this?_ before my body hit the floor with a thud and everything went black.

"Ow ow ow ow." I moaned and sat up. _Heaven sure looks a lot like Haruhi's living room…._

"Oy! She's awake!" The sudden voice had me screaming and grabbing the nearest object to throw at the speaker, which just so happened to be a glass vase.

"AYE! Stop! Haruhi! Nala is going rampant out here!" I blinked, and my vision cleared showing a horrified twin cowering behind the other end of the couch. My grip on the vase slipped, and it fell from my hand shattering on the floor. Horrified eyes swept the room and i choked out,

"Where are Kaoru and Haruhi? What happened!? What in the ever loving mother of monkey butts was that fucking MONSTER!?" Hikaru scratched his chin, and eyes darting everywhere he mumbled.

"Kaoru isn't here right now….Haruhi is in the other room with Tamaki." Bitterness tinged his voice before he continued on after clearing his throat. "And what creature are you talking about…?" He chuckled nervously, "There was no creature...you must've had a nightmare." I glared at him.

"That was no nightmare _Hikaru!_ That was…..not from this world at all. Don't even bother trying to lie about it, because you're a horrible liar. You do much better when Kaoru is here to help you. Now," I pointed at him, "Are you going to show me where Haruhi and Kaoru are or do i have to, like, beat it out of you." He held up his hands in defense when i moved towards him.

"Fine. Fine i'll show you but don't be surprised what you see." Without warning he snagged my hand, and jerking me behind him, he dragged me down the hall to Haruhi's room and throwing open the door he shoved me inside it. The sight in front of me had my jaw dropping.

"Y-Y-YOU FREAK! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY BEST FRIEND!?" My screaming had Tamaki jerking away from Haruhi in surprise. "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!?" He began to stutter and blush and fumble with his hands. The scene i had just walked into, after the night i'd had was not an entirely pleasant one. Haruhi had been backed up against the wall with Tamaki's face pressed against her neck in what i had originally assumed was a kiss. Well...it wasn't a kiss. "WHAT THE HELL TAMAKI!? Are you some sort of wannabe vampire sicko huh? That is disgusting you freak! Get away from Haruhi right bloody now." Marching forward, i picked up textbook lying on the desk and chucked it at his face. He dodged and i grabbed another one. Right before i threw it though, a hand caught my wrist, staying it in place mid throw.

"Miss...Ahem Nala drop the book and let us explain this to you." Kyoya's calm voice both calmed and enraged me and i spun to face him now.

"_You, _you….you bastard! You knew about this," I beckoned to the messy room and Haruhi and Tamaki. "Whatever the hell this is, didn't you?" As a new thought crossed my mind i jerked my hand out of his grasp and backed away whispering. "Are you into the same sick stuff as Tamaki huh? Or is this some kind of practical joke that you guys put together? Playing pranks was something i only associated with the twins, never the rest of you. This though? This is sick and taking it way too far!" He sighed and pushed his glasses up making them flash.

"Well this is a bit problematic." With another heartfelt sigh he turned away and called over his shoulder, "Come back into the living room and I'll explain it all to you. Hikaru," he looked back glasses flashing, "Do finish picking this up." Hikaru scowled but didn't say a word at Kyoya's command. Reluctantly, and completely ignoring Tamaki and Haruhi, i scurried out of the room after Kyoya. Catching up to him in the hall, but still keeping a wary distance i spoke quietly,

"I hope you're ready for a helluva a lotta questions buddy." He merely nodded and beckoned to the couch saying,

"Sit down for now, we have to wait for Honey and Mori to arrive." My heart almost stopped again. _Honey and Mori….oh my gosh they're in on this to….no, please no._ I sat restlessly on the couch, but a few minutes later a knock sounded at the door. Defiantly meeting Kyoya's eyes i snapped,

"Well don't expect me to get it. We both saw how that went before." Merely nodding his head he went to get the front door. There was the low murmur of voices in the front hall before footsteps headed back towards the living room. When Honey and Mori turned the corner, Honey's big brown eyes lit up and he launched himself at me. I let out a whimper and tried to shove myself off the couch. There was the briefest breeze over my body, but a moment later i cracked an eye open and found Honey crouched in front of the couch, big eyes opened wide in horror. My own eyes widened in shock when i realized what i'd done, I had cowered away from Honey in fear. I looked down in shame and he backed away slowly at Mori's low call.

"I'm sorry Honey-senpai…." He didn't respond, and when i glanced back up i found him glaring at the floor. My shoulders slumped, but it was what he said next that made me jerk my eyes back up in surprise.

"Where is it? I want to send it to the abyss myself for scaring Nala like this." His voice was low, dark, and do i dare say evil? It was the total opposite of his usual sweet, bubbly self that it actually scared me a bit. Mori muttered something to him and rested his hand on the shorter boys head. A noise from down the hall heralded the arrival of Haruhi, Tamaki, Hikaru, and...Kaoru! Leaping off the couch i sprinted to him and yanked him into a hug.

"You idiot! Do you have any idea how scared i was when...when you or whatever it was you were fell out that window? I swear you took ten years off my life with that you baka!" He paused for a moment, before slowly lifting his arms and hugging me back. After a moment, someone cleared their throat and i leapt out of Kaoru's arms flushing bright red. The blush disappeared a moment later though at the sight of Tamaki and i glared at him before giving him the universal sign of 'I'm watching you'. He hurriedly dropped my eyes and hustled over to the couch to sit down. When Kyoya flicked a glance between an empty chair and myself, i shook my head and said,

"No you can all sit down i'll feel safer standing right now until this is all explained.

"Are you sure Nal-chan?" I couldn't meet Honey's eyes, instead i stubbornly nodded my head, jaw set. Kyoya shrugged and moved to take an empty seat. It ended up with Haruhi and Tamaki on the couch, Honey on Mori's lap, the twins sitting on the floor next to the couch, and Kyoya getting the last empty seat to himself. Leaning against the doorjamb i pointed at him.

"Alright Ootori you better have a pretty damn good explanation for this." He nodded and crossing his legs he leaned back in the chair and began his story.

"Haruhi already filled us in on what happened. The creature you encountered was an _Oni,_ a demon." I rolled my eyes muttering,

"I know what that is."

"Miss Fuyumi," for once i didn't correct him on his choice of address, "Please refrain from interrupting while i'm talking or we'll be here all night. Let me tell the story, and then you can ask your questions. Haruhi," He turned to her, "Are you sure your father won't be home till tomorrow afternoon?" At her nod he settled back into his chair and began his story. "I'm sure that you are familiar with the legends, stories and myths the people in our culture have spoken of since before anyone can remember?" At my nod he continued, "Well then, what is normally left out, or what isn't believed by most, is that many of these legends are based on real creatures and real events that happened." I sat down on the floor with a thud, so much for being the cool kid. "There are two different categories of mythological creatures, the first holding monsters such as the _Oni _and others. This group is known to us as the _Waru_, the evil." _That's original. _As if he was reading my thoughts, he raised an eyebrow at me and said, "We weren't the ones who invented the names, so don't go calling us unoriginal." I sweatdropped at that. _Creepy!_ "Anyway, that's the first category, basically-" Here, the twins who had been silent so far cut him off.

"Basically they're the things you don't want to run into at all, ever." Kyoya frowned at them for the interruption. _Geez, he's like a school teacher._

"The second category-" Here he got cut off again, but this time it was Honey.

"That's people like us!" He beamed at me, "We're the protectors, we get rid of the _Waru_ and keep people safe." I facepalmed _i'm somehow even more confused now than i was earlier. _

"Hang on a minute," I held up a hand to stop Kyoya from talking. "What the heck are you guys then? And what's with your ability to turn into a tiger," I waved at Kaoru, "And Tamaki's sicko blood thing?" He pouted at my term for it, too which i gave him a cold stare. Now Haruhi was the one to talk.

"Nala...each of the guys has a...gift so to speak. Their bloodlines are a little different as protectors, and along with the special gifts they have they need certain things. You saw what Tamaki needed," Here she blushed a bit. "And that's what i meant earlier about our relationship being complicated. I'm his, mmm how should i phrase it, supplier for that need." I frowned at Tamaki now.

"Sooo what? You're telling me that he's a vampire and you're his walking blood bag? Is this like the reality TV version of the twilight series?" I pointed at Tamaki, "You have the brooding vamp right there," then to Hikaru, "And the moody shapeshifter there. What's next? Are one of you guys gonna pull out a glass ball and predict my fortune?" At that the twins sniggered and looked at Kyoya. My jaw dropped and i turned to him. "You're a fortune teller?!" He frowned at me.

"No i'm not. I have the gift of clairvoyance. It's why i had the twins stage the fight so one of them would be here tonight. I felt like something bad was going to happen." I narrowed my eyes at him, and then the twins.

"You guys are sneaky bastards…" I suddenly whipped my arm to point at Honey and Mori. "What are you guys then? I swear if one of you turns out to be a genie let me tell you right here and now there will be absolutely no lamp rubbing jokes in my presence." I shot a look at the twins and they smirked at me. Honey giggled and shook his head.

"We're priests Nal-chan. We protect the shrines and holy places." I raised an eyebrow Kyoya style.

"Forgive me for finding that highly dubious, most priests i've seen aren't A. younger than 40 and B kick ass ninja judo people." Kyoya cleared his throat and after leveling a frown at everyone in the room he turned to me.

"Do you honestly think real priests are like that? They wouldn't be protectors if that was true. Honey and Mori have been getting trained for this for their entire lives, it's second nature to them." I cocked my head pondering it and realized, that somewhere during this discussion my fear of the boys in front of me had faded. Honey climbed out of Mori's lap and slowly walked over to me. I watched him the entire time as he came closer before stopping in front of me.

"I'm sorry Nal-chan i didn't mean to scare you." I sighed, and leaning forward i snagged his arm and pulled him into a hug murmuring.

"It's not your fault Honey. Besides i'm not scared of you guys now, i know that you're no different now that i know your secret than you were before i knew it. Granted this isn't the way i would've chosen to find out, but everything that happens happens for a reason. And besides, Kaoru protected us, and Kyoya and Hikaru helped even if they should've been upfront about it. Now can i ask my questions?" I let Honey out of the hug and he sat down next to me snuggling against my side. Kyoya nodded seemingly realizing he wasn't going to get much farther explaining it to me tonight. "Alright first off what was the abyss Honey mentioned? Also can you get me a book in myths and legends so i can catch up on it all?"

"The abyss, is the place that the _Waru _go after they've been killed. It's similar to the Greek's Tartarus." I went pale.

"WAIT! Does that mean that legends and myths from other countries are real as well?" The twins shrugged,

"Who knows, it _is _possible though." I mentally started freaking out and Tamaki whacked them both over the head.

"Don't go scaring my darling daughter like that you shady twins!" I sent him an impassive look and he dropped his eyes and curled up in his depressed corner. Haruhi sighed and shook her head at me and i scowled at her. Our silent communication went something along the lines of

_Seriously Nala?_

_**Damn right i'm serious Haruhi**_

_You have to forgiven him sometime_

_**Pfffttt**_

_Nala!_

_**Haruhi.**_

"Ahem." Kyoya cleared his throat and we both turned to glare at him now for interrupting us.

"What?!" We snapped together. The twins sweatdropped and Tamaki cowered in his corner some more upon seeing our deadly auras.

"There will be time for you two to fight later. As for now we need to update Miss Fuyumi on some more things." He turned to me ignoring the murderous looks from Haruhi and myself. "Miss Fuyumi, now that you know of our….predicament, you have no choice but to join the host club so we can keep an eye on you." I dropped my death glare and looked at him incredulously.

"Are you serious? I'm winning our bet Ootori and i'm not joining the host club." He gave me an indifferent glance.

"Well have it your way, good luck protecting yourself from the _Waru_ without our help."Beckoning to the others he stood up. "We'll be taking our leave, Haruhi you should go with Tamaki tonight to let Miss Fuyumi think things over by herself." She nodded and standing up she dragged Tamaki up with her. The twins, Honey and Mori followed suit and they filed out the door. Before she left though she turned back to me.

"Please consider it Nala. We can talk about this all tomorrow but please don't be mad at me." I sighed and pulled her into a hug.

"I'm not mad at you Haru. Sure i'm annoyed that you didn't up and tell me about all this when you first found out, but i'm more annoyed with Tamaki right now." Turning to face said boy narrowed my eyes at him and said, "Listen here Suoh. Anything happens to my best friend i'm coming after you with a stake and a big old wad of garlic products so watch out for her." He nodded fearfully and grabbing Haruhi's hand he pulled her out the door towards his limousine. As the front door closed behind them i sweatdropped. _I forgot to ask about the neighbors...oops._ Turning back i looked down the hallway, a shudder rolled over me and i hurriedly fastened all the locks and deadbolts on the door before hurrying around the apartment locking windows, flicking lights on, and pulling curtains shut. I was in for a long night.

*****Another far too regular Authors Note****

Alrightie so here it is dun dun duh! I hope you guys i like, personally i am loving writing this story so far. I hope this is satisfactory justaislinn and that it explains the craziness from the last chapter well enough. Again let me all know what you think. Although i do have a question. Is Nala's personality too all over the place? I'm trying to have it level out as the story goes but i dunno….has it been acurate/ok so far? Anyway let me know what you all think and i really hope you're enjoying reading this! Btw in case you're wondering about what's happening with her father that will all be brought back in a few chapters, i just wanted to let one thing unwind at a time.


	9. Chapter 9

It was dark, it was cold. _Where am I?_ She didn't speak out loud, but the question echoed in the empty black void around her. Seeing a light, the small girl ran towards it. As she ran, it grew and engulfed her, pulling her into the past.

_It was a bright, warm, sunny spring day. A little girl was standing on the porch of a cute little suburban house. She was watching the road with big shining eyes full of joy, and in her hands she clutched a notebook. __** We finished the song mommy. Come home and hear us sing it.**__ What the little girl didn't know though, was that her mother wasn't ever going to get to hear the end of the song. Two other's ran out of the house calling her_

"_Nala! Nala!" She turned to them with a giant smile on her little face. One of the girls was a small brunette with with big doe eyes,_

"_Haruhi!" Nala's smile was could have lit the sky in the sun's place with her joy at the sight of the girl. The other little girl had big stormy blue eyes, and dark auburn red hair. She looked so similar to Nala in all other aspects though, that the girls were often mistaken for sisters. Nala turned to the other girl and grinned at her._

"_Is Auntie here yet?" the redhead asked, her blue eyes swimming with hope. "She said she'd come home early since it looked like we'd be finishing it today!" The three girls turned to watch the road in silence. They stood like that for hours, even as the sky grew dark and the hope in the eyes of the cousins dimmed with darkening sky. Suddenly, a distant noise had them jerking their heads up and watching eagerly. Like dogs, bodies poised and still, ears attuned to the sound drawing ever closer, eyes watching the flashing light in the distance grow nearer and nearer. Only one of the little girls knew what that light meant. Fear filled the child and she rushed to the other girls._

"_Nala! Maddy!" She grabbed Nala's hand and tried tugging her inside but the other girl refused to budge. "We need to go inside. Bad things happen in cars with flashing lights." Indeed so. Bad things did happen in the car with the flashing lights, in that car zooming by, Nala and Haruhi's mothers lifeless bodies lay. At the time the ambulance zoomed by they didn't know. But later, when two fathers stumbled into the yard, one crying and sobbing, and the other cold and closed off, all three girls felt horror strike them. Nala's father looked to her cousin Maddy and in a voice so cold that fire could've been frozen he snarled, "This is your fault you little….they wouldn't have been coming home early if you didn't tell them the song would be done wouldn't have crashed!" The horror that struck the hearts of the little girls at his words cut deep. _

"_D-d-daddy m-m-momma's dead?" He spun on Nala and getting in her face he screamed,_

"_YES! Yes she's dead! And it's all her fault!" He pointed at Maddy. "You stay away from my daughter! You two are done! Never let me catch you near her again!" Maddy stumbled back in fright and Nala leapt between her father and the other little girls. _

"_Don't talk to Maddy like that! We're friends, and friends don't leave or give up on each other! Ever!" _

I snapped awake from the dream. _Friends don't...give up on each other? I said that…._

"I said that." My voice was full of conviction as i spoke the words out loud to the empty apartment. Sadness filtered through me at the memories of my darling cousin but i shut that train of thought down right away. I'd get to see her again when i was eighteen and that was that. Sitting up i groaned at the pain in my neck _mental note don't fall asleep on the couch it hurts like a bitch when you get up. _Sighing i slid off the couch *crunch* I froze as something shattered under my feet and looking down i groaned. The glass vase was still lying in chunks on the ground, lifting my feet gingerly i took a deep breath in relief that my feet hadn't been cut. Crawling off the other side of the couch i grabbed a broom from the bathroom closet and swept the glass up. The lights were all on still from the night before, and i had to walk around shutting them off. Finally finished with that, i threw back my shoulders in a facade of bravado and shoved open Haruhi's bedroom door. My jaw dropped, the mess i'd been expecting to clean up was non existent, in fact it looked like nothing out of the ordinary had happened in the apartment especially not a rampaging demon _Hikaru was effective….._. A shudder ran through me at the memory of the creature's face and i backed out of the room shutting the door after me. A glance at the clock in the hall had me freaking out and with a horrified yelp i rushed to the laundry room and grabbed clothes out of the dryer. If i didn't hurry i would be late for school. Rushing out the door i ended up skidding to a halt and running back into the apartment to grab my bookbag and an apple before hurrying back out and heading out of the apartment building. My mad dash somehow got me to school on time, just barely, and i rushed through the halls to my classroom. With a sigh i sat down and waited for the teacher to get there. Unfortunately, my academics weren't as high as Haruhi's so i was in class 1-B instead of 1-A with her and the twins. I was here on a music scholarship nothing else so i was just glad i made it into the B class. Of course, i enjoyed the music classes at Ouran, they were filled with only the best of the best musicians and the teachers were world renowned singers and musicians. Sadly though, that was only half of my classes, the rest were the boring, old, everyday classes. So far no one had approached me at the school aside from the host club, which confused me but hey who am i to complain at least i have them, _besides it could always be worse_. Even as that thought flickered through my mind the door opened and upon seeing who was entering i let out a soft, silent sigh. _Please, do enter drama. _The girl standing at the door happened to be none other than Ayanokoji, Haruhi's like arch nemesis. Ever since she'd found out i was Haruhi's best friend, and staying with her she'd been trying to make the classes we had together hell. _Hmm maybe that's why no one has approached me,,,yeah that makes sense_. Per her normal routine she first went to my desk and leaning a hip against it she spoke in a sickly sweet voice,

"Aw look at what the cat dragged in." I blatantly ignored her and i could almost feel her attitude swell with anger when her verbal taunts didn't affect me. "Still looking for a guy who'll fall for someone like you?" I kept looking out the window as she talked, "I'm sure if you look a little harder out the window at the garden a plant might notice you, but then again...maybe not." With a sigh i turned to face her and cocking an eyebrow i murmured,

"I'm sure a slut would know all about that." She drew herself up in indignation and her cheeks flushed a shade darker. It was no secret the girl slept around freely which kinda surprised me, but then again….no, no it didn't surprise me.

"I'm sorry i think i heard you wrong. I'm quite sure you just called me a whore." I looked up at her and returned her sickly sweet smile and snarked,

"Oh _honey_ i'm not calling you a whore. I'm just saying if you're vagina was a video game it would be rated E for everyone." She gasped in indignation.

"How dare you! You have no right to talk about my...my...private areas like that." I snorted.

"You call them private? Ayanokoji if you get any more traffic down there you'll need to open a starbucks." Her face burned bright red, the entire week that i'd been in the class this had been her daily routine, except so far i hadn't talked back to her choosing to ignore her instead, but after the night i had i was too tired to deal with her shit. By now, we had the attention of the entire class, their eyes burning into mine and Ayanokoji's backs. Phones were out, texts being sent, rumors spreading and i sighed turning my head back to look out the window going back to ignoring the bitch at the side of my desk. She hesitated a moment, before turning away and going to her desk in a huff. A slow smile spread across my lips and i couldn't help but feel just a teeny bit triumphant at the victory i'd just attained. The teacher entered, and settling down further in my seat i began counting down the hours till school was done.

By the end of the school day i was dead tired, so when the school bell rang i could've cried from happiness. Stretching, i relaxed for a moment, before sliding out of my chair and grabbing my book bag. My classroom was on the bottom floor and soon i found myself staring up the stairs with a feeling of dread.

"They really need to install a damn elevator." So saying, i took the first step. Five minutes later found me panting with exhaustion at the top of the stairs. "Damn stairs need to go away. Ugh just ugh." I received a weird look from two girls as they reached the top and found me sitting on the floor leaned against the banister talking to myself. _They probably think i'm mental_ i snorted and shut my eyes for a minute to rest. "I've got it!" Suddenly my eyes snapped open and i leapt up. "It's like the stairs in Kung Fu Panda! They're only here to build my endurance and test my will!" I leveled an evil stare at the stairs and still glowering i pointed at them and snapped. "You're going down ya suckers!" With an evil laugh i turned away and made a beeline for the host clubs doors. Throwing them open, I found the room empty. _The frick? _Stepping back outside i stopped a girl in the hall and asked her where they were. I was pleasantly surprised when i was told they were hosting in the garden instead of the music room for the day. As i thanked the girl and she left i came to a horrible realization, _I have to face the stairs again...gosh darn it!_ Ttrudging back to them, I death glared them and began the tedious climb back down determined to not let them defeat me this time. Upon reaching the bottom i did a little victory dance again earning me some stares and whispers but i just flashed a smile and headed off for the garden. I let out a little gasp at the sheer beauty of the place. Under the blooming cherry trees it was like a fairy kingdom and for a moment i felt like nothing could ever hurt me. Of course the feeling didn't last long as the sound of high feminine tittering laughter broke through my fantasy. With a sigh i began trudging towards the noise. _I think it's coming from behind this bush...well...it's now or never…._Leaning forward to part the branches to see who was there proved disastrous though, i leaned a little too far and lost my balancing falling into and through the bush.

"Oof!"

"Nala!?" Startled voices and one girl's scream had me leaping to my feet only to find i couldn't see a thing cause a branch had tangled in my hair and pulled it all forward to drape over my face. I tried to step back and untangle my hair at the same time and in the process i tripped over a rock. It was one of those slow motion falls, my hair flung away from my face, but i squeezed my eyes shut tight, bracing myself for the fall. A fall that never came, strong arms caught me and i was pulled against a warm, bare chest. Cracking an eye open, i looked around and found all the girls in the clearing fangirling with hearts in their eyes. _Is that normal?_ I'm pretty sure i saw one girl faint and her soul floated away. I blinked hard before rubbing my eyes _Now i'm seeing things for sure_. Tipping my head back, i found myself face to face with my rescuer, who just happened to be Kyoya. I turned steam engine red and attempted to do some crazy gymnastic feat and leap out of his arms. Again that didn't end well. Our legs tangled and we both ended up falling forward. Somehow mid fall though, Kyoya flipped us so he hit the ground not me. Opening my eyes for a second time i'm pretty sure i was gonna jump out of my skin in horror. I was sitting atop Kyoya's stomach, my hands planted against his bare chest between our bodies and my head nestled against his shoulder. I scrambled off him, kneeing him in the gut by accident which resulted in him releasing a small.

"Oof!"

"S-s-sorry O-o-otori." I'm pretty sure my soul was about to join that other girl's except i was about to die of embarrassment. He stood up and after brushing off and straightening his kimono he extended a hand to me to help me up off the ground. With a sigh he said,

"How long do you plan on staying on the ground Miss Fuyumi?" Flustered i began mumbling about picking myself up and with a look of exasperation, Kyoya grabbed my hand in his and with a jerk tugged me to my feet. Whispers around us had me turning in confusion forgetting that he was still holding my hand in his.

"Are you seeing this!"

"I ship it!"

"OH EM GEE SSOO CUTE KYOYA-SAMA!" I looked at the girls in horror as i realized they were fangirling at KYOYA and I. Realizing i was still holding his hand i jerked it away and clutching it to my chest i began backing away stuttering.

"I-I-I...Ha-haruhi...a-apologize….gonna...b-bye!" and i zoomed off through the flowering trees towards the sound of more laughter ringing through the garden.

\- Kyoya's POV -

I watched Nala run away in embarrassment and couldn't help but let out a small snort at her actions. I hadn't expected her to be such a klutz. Sure i'd known she was going to show up today to find us but THAT had not been in my premonition. When she'd fallen through the bush with her hair tangled in her face i couldn't help but feel a little surprised at her appearance, but when she'd tripped, i had on instinct leapt to catch her. Her small body was tensed for the fall, but when i caught her, i don't think she realized it, but she'd relaxed and leaned against me. Her head had tipped back and she'd opened a shimmering green eye. Her look of surprise and horror as her face burned red had almost made me laugh out loud, but i'd kept it in check. Only barely though. She'd tried to leap out of my arms, but her feet had tangled in the bottom of my kimono tripping both of us. As we'd fallen i'd shifted so she wouldn't be the one hurt and had landed under her. Her body was soft against mine, and i'd been pleasantly surprised. For the second time, she relaxed against me for the briefest of moments before her body had tensed and she'd lifted her head in horror, her green eyes meeting mine before she rolled off of me. I stood up, but she sat there on the ground still looking shocked and confused. Stepping forward i extended a hand to her murmuring,

"How long do you plan on staying on the ground Miss Fuyumi?" She flushed again before starting to stutter incomprehensibly. With a sigh i bent and grabbed her hand in mine before standing up and giving her hand a tug to pull her to her feet. _Never let it be said i wasn't a gentlemen._ I smirked and she glanced around at the girls as she heard them whispering. I'm not exactly sure what she heard, but whatever it was made her eyes go wide and she all but leapt away from me jerking her hand from mine and stumbling over the words as she backed away she said,

"I-I-I...Ha-haruhi….gonna...b-bye!" Before tearing off through the bushes leaving myself and the other girls there in mixed states of confusion, amusement and shock.

***Author's note***

Soooo what do y'all think? I wanted to lighten the story up a bit and you guys got some of the adorableness for the first time hehe. Anywho my normal request! Please review and let me know what you think! Also you guys kinda got to meet Maddy for the first time yippee! Don't forget about her…..


	10. Chapter 10

My face was still burning from embarrassment as i darted through the trees towards the echoing laughter. Bursting into a clearing, my eyes swept over it finding the twins, Tamaki, and Haruhi.

"I'msorryaboutlastnightpleaseforgivemeforgettingmad!" Haruhi blinked.

"Uh. What?" The twins chorused at my rushed words.

"I said, 'I'm sorry about last night please forgive me for getting mad." There was a small pause before i shyly glanced down and began scuffing the toes of my shoes in the dirt. "I've reconsidered, i'll join the host club…" The twins let out whoops, Haruhi smiled at me happily, and Tamaki began cheering about his 'other daughter' joining. I sweatdropped. "You and i still have to have words Suoh so don't think you're getting off that easy." He began freaking out about how scary my face looked and hid behind Haruhi while the twins laughed and she deadpanned.

"Are you really gonna join Nal-chan?" Screaming, i leapt ten feet off the ground at Honey's voice suddenly being behind me.

"Ah! Nal-chan get out of the tree before you fall!" I clung to the branch of said tree that i'd leapt up into in fright.

"Gosh darn it Honey don't sneak up on me like that!" He looked crestfallen. "No no no don't cry Honey! I was just saying that, i'm not mad!" His joyful look returned and i relaxed for a moment. That moment of relaxation was my downfall and just as Honey predicted, my hands slipped and with a gasp I fell. Before i could hit the ground though, strong arms caught me, and looking up i found myself, yet again, in Kyoya's arms. I went beet red and began struggling for him to let go.

"Twice in one day Miss Fuyumi? Don't tell me this is going to become a habit." Glaring at him, i finally found my voice as i leapt out of his arms.

"Well if i didn't get startled so much i wouldn't be falling and you'd have no reason to be putting your grubby hands all over me." Kaoru let out a wolf whistle at that and Hikaru snickered while the rest looked on in shock. Kyoya merely adjusted his glasses making them flash. _Seriously? That is so an intimidation technique…._

"Only sometimes Miss-" My glare stopped him right there.

"We've been over this before Ootori. It's Nala!" Before he could respond with his stereotypical snarky reply, a bunch of giggling girls appeared out of no where.

"Found you Honey-kun and Mori-senpai!" The hosts they called to turned to face them, and within moments were surrounded by adoring fangirls. It was like the appearance of those girls was the calm before the storm, out of no where, dozens of girls were suddenly streaming through the garden to their hosts. My jaw dropped at the blatant adoration coming from them all, and sidling up to Kyoya, who at the moment was female fangirl free, i whispered.

"Yo Ootori...uhh what exactly am i gonna do for the host club? You can't expect me to do this!" He gave me an impassive look before pulling out his ever present little black book to write in. Without looking at me he murmured,

"I have some ideas, i have to talk to Tamaki and the rest though first." I nodded, but the ringing of my cell phone kept me from replying, and stepping away i glanced around to make sure no one was looking, before sliding it out of my bra.

"Hello?"

"Hi Nala It's Maria!" A grin split my face at the sound of her cheerful voice. "So i got a call a minute ago and i thought you'd like to know," She paused a moment before continuing. "You're father is out of the blood loss induced coma and is asking for you at the hospital." I froze. _How dare he. He has no right to be requesting for me to come like i'm still under his command._

"Nala? Nala hun you still there?"

"Yeah sorry," I rubbed my temples tiredly, "I got a little caught up in my thoughts there sorry 'bout that." After glancing back at the now busy hosts to make sure they weren't paying attention, i hurried towards the school. "Do you think i should go Maria?" Her heavy sigh told me what i didn't want to hear.

"I think you should, Tell him he's going to jail and you're going into the system. It's the best way to get the revenge you want without anyone getting hurt." Maria hadn't been surprised when, a few days after the incident in the police station, I'd called her and told her i needed vengeance to at least some degree for what he'd done. While she hadn't condined it, she had understood it and had been willing to help me find a good way to go about it. In time since that day, Maria and i had grown close. She was now more of an older sister to me than a case worker, and i valued her greatly for her help and the affection she showed me. "Tell you what," Her voice snapped me out of my reverie. "I'm gonna pick you up from school, i'm in the neighborhood anyway. We'll go to the hospital, chat with your dad, and i'll take you out to eat afterwards." A small smile slid over my face, softening the former harsh look that had been covering it.

"I'd love that Maria. Thank you." I could almost picture her giant smile as she responded.

"It's not a problem silly! We're practically family by now so of course i'm gonna treat you out." I laughed.

"You've barely known me for over a week! How can you say we're already family?" She snorted at me, but answered seriously.

"Time doesn't measure love and affection between people Nala. It's a measure of the heart not how long it takes your heart to get there."

"I guess you're right," I tipped my head back to look at the sky as i walked, you better hurry getting here it looks like it might rain Maria." Upon finding out she was only minutes away i squeaked and hurried into the building just as the first rain drop fell from the sky.

"Whoa girlie you're soaked!" I scowled at Maria as i slid in to the passenger seat next to her.

"No duh. That's what happens when you make a mad dash across a giant courtyard in the pouring rain!" She burst out laughing at me, and reaching into the backseat she snagged something and threw it at my face. The towel wrapped around my head and i jerked it off.

"Oy what was that for!" She smirked at me.

"See some of us read the weather report for the day and come prepared kiddo," She raised an eyebrow at me, "Unlike some people." I shook my head hard sending water droplets spraying from my hair all over the car, and Maria. She stuck her tongue out at me and grabbed the towel to wipe her face off, taking her glasses off to clean them as she did so. "Alright," she threw the towel in the back seat and turned back to face me. "Think you can do this?" All playfulness disappeared from her voice. Sighing i turned to stare out at the rain pouring down outside the car, and students rushing to their cars.

"I...I honestly don't know Maria." My frank answer was met with a sharp nod and a look of understanding as Maria started the car, and pulled out of the courtyard. We drove in silence for a moment before a sudden buzzing filled the air. Snagging my phone i answered.

"Hello?"

"Nala are you ok? Where did you go?" I winced.

"Oh..Hey Haruhi!"

"Don't 'hey' me! You up and disappeared on us without warning and after last night...well you know." I nodded before realizing she couldn't see the movement over the phone and mumbled a 'yes' to her. "So you're good? You don't need a ride home or anything?"

"Nah i'm all set. My, uh, dad woke up from the coma and is asking for me…." I trailed off slowly.

"Nala i'll be at the hospital in a few minutes, i'll have Tamaki drop me off." An unintentional smile slid over my face and echoed in my whispered response.

"I'd like that Haru. Thank you." We said our goodbyes and a moment later hung up."Haruhi is gonna meet us at the hospital." Maria nodded and grinned. In the last week she hadn't taken a liking to just me, she'd gotten close to Haruhi to and the three of us now had our own special group.

"Awesome! I know you can use support from someone other than me." Nodding, i went back to looking out the window at store lights as they flashed by in the dark, rainy afternoon. _I can't do this...no...I don't want to do this….he hurt me and i'm just waltzing back to him at his beck and call….. _"We're here. It looks like Haruhi isn't though yet." Still mute, i nodded. "Nala." Maria's voice made me pause as i got ready to open the door. "If you can't do this you tell me ok? No holding it in this time. I'm here for you and i'm going to help keep you safe." I got out of the car without saying a word, and ran into the building through the rain. A moment later Maria joined me scolding, "Hey you didn't answer my question! Also," she steered me into the lobby area, "Let's wait for Haruhi here." For the first time since we'd started driving i spoke. My eyes were downcast and it was more of a mumble than speaking.

"I'll answer your question if you answer mine."

"Huh?" Eyes flashing my head snapped up and my eyes met hers, burning into them with the passion that swept through me.

"I'll answer your question if you answer mine later when we go out."

"Al...right?" Her answer was hesitant and questioning but it was what i wanted, and shoulders slumping, passion disappearing as fast as it had risen i plopped into a chair and whispered,

"I'm scared out of my mind Maria-chan. Scared and confused. And mad. Why is he doing this to me? I don't understand it." She sighed heavily and tipped her head back to stare at the ceiling, her blond curls hanging limp down her back and over her shoulders from the rain, _Her hair is like my attitude right now gee whiz. _

"It's ok to be scared. You know i was at this point once in my life. Everything was terrifying and confusing. That's why you have friends though, we're here to keep you sane when you're about to go over the brink to insanity. We're your lifeline. Think you can hang onto me Nala?" I met her frank blue eyes as she tipped her head down to face me.

"Yeah Maria. Yeah i think i can." She smiled and ruffled my hair playfully.

"Nala! Maria!" Haruhi's voice echoed through the lobby and i winced, _Tamaki's rubbing off on her._

"You ready Haru-" I broke off at the sight behind her and my jaw dropped. "YOU BROUGHT THE ENTIRE HOST CLUB!?" My horrified yelling had everyone else in the lobby watching us like we were the next reality TV show. Grabbing Haruhi's arm i dragged her to the far corner of the lobby and hissed while covertly watching the host club surround Maria and strike up a conversation, "Why are they here dude?!" She gave me a blank stare.

"As soon as i asked Tamaki to bring me, he turned it into operation 'Protect Nala-chan'. They're here because you're one of the group now, hell they would've come even if you'd said no because they consider you a friend." I sweatdropped.

"Alright guys," I stomped back over to them frowning, "Here are the rules. One. No one comes into that room with me except Haruhi and Detective Maria. Two. You don't interfere no matter what you hear. Three. For the love of monkey's try to not stand out so much i don't need fangirling nurses blocking my escape route."

"Aye aye captain!" The twins, Tamaki and Honey saluted me. With the ghost of a smile covering my face i shook my head and headed for the elevator.

"C'mon! you guys are so slow!" This set the twins off and they caught up to me slinging their arms over my shoulders as we walked.

"Wanna bet?" I raised an eyebrow. "My last bet didn't go so well you two, look where it ended up?" Kaoru flapped his free hand in the air.

"It would've happened anyway Nala-chan."

"So just accept it." Hikaru finished. Narrowing my eyes, i murmured,

"Alright what's the bet?" They grinned wickedly.

"You'll run up that flight of stairs," they pointed, "And we'll run up that flight and whoever gets to your father's door first gets to pick whatever they want from the other." I grinned wickedly. _They have no idea what they're in for if i win. I'm a former track star i can do this and kick their asses hah!_

"Deal! Go!" I shouted and took off sprinting leaving the twins standing there slack faced and confused before they took off to. The rest of the group watched and Maria and Haruhi sweatdropped.

"No matter where she goes, or what situation it is..."

"She can't turn down a bet." They murmured and shook their heads at the fleeing girl.

"Think she'll win Kyo-chan?" Honey asked from atop Mori's shoulders.

"Doubtful, the twins are in..._excellent_ physical condition." Honey pouted at that while Tamaki seemed to get struck by lightening and took off after the twins yelling for all he was worth.

"YOU STAY AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER YOU SHADY TWINS! NO BETS DADDY FORBIDS IT NALA!"

"No way! How the hell did you guys beat me!?" I stared at the smirking twins in horror. I'd just gotten to my father's room only to find the two leaning casually against the door as if they had all the time in the world. Ignoring my question they pushed off the door and started circling me like sharks.

"Nevermind that Nala. But we wwwooonn! Now you have to give us something we want."

Hikaru leaned closer and whispered in my ear making me shiver. "_Anything_ we want Nala-chan." I shoved him back playfully.

"Only within reason you two." I forced myself to face the closed door across from me and murmured. "Let Haruhi and Maria know i'm already talking to him please." They looked like they were about to protest. "Don't even try you guys. Rule number one remember?" They glared at the door but stepped aside so i could enter the room. Sliding inside, i closed the door behind me and faced the man on the bed. Glancing up, piercing, icy, cold blue eyes met swirling, green emeralds flashing with anger.

"Hello daughter." My temper flared.

"Don't fucking call me that you monster. You're not my father. You haven't been for years. You barely have the right to say my name you bastard." He smiled coldly at me.

"You're just like your mom, you're a fighter. You don't give up." I bristled, he ignored it. "I thought i'd let you know now rather than later, but you'll probably want to consider getting out of Japan."

"Why?" He looked out the window avoiding my sharp gaze.

"I...made a mistake. I was drunk, a man approached me and we started talking." I cut him off.

"What does that have to do with anything Mr Fuyumi?" His eyes snapped back to mine in fury and he roared,

"I SOLD YOU NALA! I. SOLD. YOU." I froze, everything wavered for a moment so badly that i found myself sinking to the floor. _He..he can't do that...I'm...i was his daughter. Why? Why!? _The hospital room door flew open and the host club rushed in with Maria and Haruhi. Except the host club didn't seem...right. Mori and Honey's auras were so deadly they burned with black fire, the usually boisterous Tamaki was deadly silent and his jaw was clenched tightly shut, the twins golden eyes _glowed_ with utter hatred, and Kyoya? Well Kyoya looked like he always did except very very very on edge. His fists were clenched, his jaw locked tight, and his body rigid as he watched the man on the bed.

"You what?!" Maria's voice was sharper than a knife. My father met her eyes and snarled.

"I was drunk. I didn't know what i was doing then. It was the man i brought home with me that morning. He was gonna take her with him." I was shaking like a leaf, panic setting into me making my breath catch in my throat, and my heart pound faster.

"Nala breath." My vision was wavering.

"Nala!" A light smack on my face had me staring into Kyoya and Haruhi's worried and angry faces.

"Are you ok Nala?" Kyoya's voice was soft, nothing like how he looked at the moment with his dark eyes burning with rage. Nodding i clutched Haruhi's hand in mine and used her as leverage to pull myself to my feet. I shoved the panic so deep down inside of myself i felt numb, i faced the man on the bed and spoke in a monotone voice.

"I hate you. You can rot in hell for all i care." Turning to leave, i paused before spinning around and going back to the bed. I stepped to the side where the IV was and asked over my shoulder, "Ootori which one is the pain meds?"

"Nala?!" Startled voices behind me were what i'd been expecting, what i hadn't expected though was for Kyoya to come up next to me and pull the needle out of the bag himself. Smiling down at my father bitterly i murmured, "You know you're right. I am like my mother. I won't give up. If these people want to collect, they can collect you. I won't be going anywhere." and left the room. '"Ready to go to dinner Maria?" Her good cop side was obviously warring with what i'd just done, but she turned and followed me out a moment later along with the host club.

***Authors Note***

Alright i'm begging for you all to stay with me on this, i know its a little craazy as of right now but it's gonna be tied together soon and making sense! Thanks again so much for reading and please review! Also i'm sorry i'm posting so late and taken so long….life has been...hectic to say the least.


	11. Chapter 11

"Are you sure that was a good idea Nala?" I didn't meet Maria's eyes, instead choosing to sip from my glass of lemonade through a straw. "Nala I'm serious!" Green hit blue as our eyes met and our wills clashed.

"No it wasn't the right thing to do." She blinked at my frank confession.

"Then….why?" I leaned back in my the chair tipping it up onto two legs.

"I was hurting. That..._man_ thought he could control me like that. You saw it in his eyes Maria, he didn't care that he sold me! I was his daughter for goodness sake yet there was nothing in his eyes to show he cared. All he could think of was getting the money to buy his next bottle of alcohol, or his next whore off the streets. In that moment i ceased to be anything but a tool to him that he could use to obtain what he really wanted." She looked at me sadly from across the table, her big blue eyes glazing over for a moment as she got lost in thought.

"I wish i could disagree with you there but….you know i can't. I will disagree with the pain meds move but his actions? They were detestable and I'm afraid i've gotta admit that if i was in your position I'd have done the same probably." I nodded and listlessly began staring around the restaurant at the other patrons. They looked so happy. In a far corner a small family ate together, the little girl laughing and waving her hands animatedly while her parents looked on with a fondness only a loving parent can know. A little bit away from them, a young man was with a girl on what i assumed was a date. It was only a first or second date from the look of it, she was smiling shyly, while he was acting manly in an attempt to impress her.

"They're cute, but he's trying too hard." Maria's eyes had followed my stare to them, prompting her to murmur the words. "By the way," My eyes went back to her, "What was the question you wanted to ask me earlier?"

"Oh that." _Good thing she reminded me….._ "You've mentioned a few times that you have a younger cousin. I hope i'm not being rude but what's the backstory for that? Every time you mentioned her your eyes and voice get so sad." Even as i spoke a shutter i'd never seen before slid over Maria's eyes, cutting off all visible emotion in them. I half expected her to not speak, and as i was about to say she didn't have to her sad murmur reached my ears.

"I have a cousin. Obviously," She smiled ruefully all the while looking into space lost in her own thoughts. "She's the sweetest girl ever, a lot like you actually. It's why i think i was so drawn to you and why we get along so well. She used to be so full of life but the past few years have been rough on her. There was an incident when she was little, i don't even know the details, but she was abruptly moved from Japan to America and isn't allowed back here unless i can support her, or she turns eighteen. She...she's hurting and her parents don't understand it. They're dealing with marital problems and they just see her attitude as an act of rebellion. They don't know how badly she's hurt though. She was actually born in Ireland, she's a pure blooded irish girl. We have deep roots in Ireland so to our, and don't laugh at this, our clan she's our princess. She's the youngest girl of the family and well it's taking it's toll on her." As Maria spoke a vague sense of recognition filled me.

"Say Maria...what's...what's her name?" She snapped out of her thoughts and grinned,

"I'll tell you _but_ you cannot laugh! It's a, er, _very _Irish name." I rolled my eyes at Maria.

"C'mon Maria you know i'm not gonna laugh!" She raised an eyebrow and smiled playfully.

"We'll see." She leaned across the table, conspiratorially whispering. "Her name is Madden, Madden Aisling, But we all call her Maddy….Nala? Nala are you alright? You look like you're going to be sick!" Maria's worried voice barely registered to me at the moment. _There's no way in hell….._

"Maria." My voice was low, urgent, "How old was she when she moved to America?" She frowned.

"Oh man..she musta been like 9 or so i can't exactly remember." I felt the blood drain from my face. _It has to be a coincidence._

"D-do you have a p-picture of her?" Maria's eyebrows were drawn together in concern now.

"Nala...are you sure you're alright? You're actually starting to worry me."

"A picture Maria. Please it's important." She still looked at me concerned, but slowly pulled out her phone and after scrolling through it for a moment she held it out to me. The picture was of a young lady. What once had been dark auburn hair, was now a beautifully dark red, her green eyes were wide and sparkling with laughter as she looked into the camera, her lips pulled into a small quirky smile giving you a glance of straight white teeth. "Oh my universe. It _is _her." Maria merely stared in confusion.

"Nala what are you talking about? You know her?" I couldn't help the happy tears forming in my eyes as i continued staring at the picture.

"Maria….This is my cousin Maddy. We...I'm the reason she was sent out of japan and we were separated! She, Haru and i were childhood best friends. Oh my gosh," The tears were falling now. "I haven't seen or spoken to her in years." I smiled radiantly at Maria, and leaping out of the chair, drawing the attention of the others in the restaurant, I bowed and exclaimed. "Please Maria do everything you can to get Maddy back!" She was gaping at me now, but suddenly, she leaned forward and pulled me into a hug.

"I promise you Nala we'll get her here. I've been working towards it for years and i'm close. With your help...I think we could do it!" Her voice was full of joy and hope and i threw my arms around her momentarily forgetting the problems of earlier in the day in my newfound joy at seeing the familiar face in the picture. One i hadn't seen in many many years "I have an idea!" Her gleeful words had me jerking my head up to look into her eyes.

"What!?" She grinned, her blue eyes glinting with mischief.

"You'll see, let's get out of here first." We paid, or more correctly Maria paid while i waited impatiently for her to hurry up, but moments later we were back in her car. She turned to me and took a deep breath. "I can't believe i'm saying this but...are you ready to break the rules Nala?"

*Rrrriiinnngggg* A moment of silence. *Rrrrriiiinnnggg* Another moment. *Rrrriiinnngg-*

"Hello? Maria?" The voice was soft, very feminine and carrying a vague almost imperceptible Irish lilt to it.

"Hey Maddy." Maria's voice was the voice you make when you're so utterly happy that everything in your tone softens and you speak in a delicate, breathy voice from joy. "I have someone i think you'd like to talk to."

"Uhhh alright but seriously if Uncle Devlin put you up to this…"

"He didn't trust me you'll like this surprise! Here she is." She passed the phone to me and for a split second i was afraid of what would happen. _What would she do when i said hello? Did she hate me? Will she hang up? _Shoving the thoughts aside i almost whispered.

"He-hey Maddy. It's, um, been a while." There was a moment of silence and i could almost hear the gears rotating in her head as she deciphered who i was, before a low gasp was heard followed by a hollered,

"NALA!? NALA FUYUMI!? MY COUSIN NALA!? OHMYGAWSH I CAN'T EVEN...NALAL!" The tears sprang to my eyes again but i rubbed at them with the back of my hands forcing them away.

"Yeah it's me Maddy. I'm...so much has happened….I..You….oh Maddy i miss you!" There was the sound of sniffling on the other end of the line before the girl responded.

"I've missed you to Nal. I've tried to find you but my parents...well you know what happened. Then Maria moved there to Japan... I prayed a miracle would make this happen but….I didn't even think Maria would…." I sniffled to, one of those awkward sniffles that is part crying part laughing.

"Maria didn't even know! We literally just found out….WAIT! THIS MEANS THE THREE OF US ARE ALL RELATED!" Maddy made a muffled exclamation of delight at that and Maria started in realization, collecting the ots long before we did.

"That's right!" Maria's voice cut through Maddy's response. "It was your aunt, Maddy, that married Nala's father, and then _my _mother is your aunt's sister-in-law Nala! How wonderful is this?!" I grinned in response and i could hear Maddy's whoop on the other end of the line.

"Fuck." Her voice suddenly went quiet. "I have to go i can hear mother coming. Maria give Nala my number you'll be in my contacts as Nancy so say that's who you are when you message me! Bye!" and as fast as she'd been there she was gone. That didn't quench the joy growing in me and i spun in my car seat to face Maria.

"Maria thank you! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" I glomped her. "For once in this gosh awful day something is looking up!" She grinned right back at me and starting the car said cheerfully.

"C'mon we've gotta get you back to Haruhi and the rest of the club at her house to break the news to her!"

We sped throught the streets and when we reached Haruhi's apartment complex we both bolted from the car, pounded up the stairs, and crashed into the apartment talking at the same time.

"Haruhi! Maddy!"

"We're related!"

"Cousins!"

"Can you believe it!"

"Got Maddy's number!"

"Gonna have to be careful with her parents though-"

"STOP!" Surprisingly, that shout came from Tamaki and the twins who looked like their heads were spinning.

"What is going on?" Haruhi's voice was as confused as she looked so after glancing at each other, the story tumbled from me in a rush.

"MariaisMaddy'scousinanditalkedtoherandOMGwe'rerelatedandigothernumberandisn't thiswonderful?" The entire host club and Haruhi, collectively blinked and turned to face Maria hoping for a rational explanation. She took a deep breath before repeating what i said, being the only one there who understood a word of it.

"She said 'Maria is Maddy's cousin and i talked to her and OMG we're related and i got her number and isn't this wonderful?!' " Haruhi's' jaw dropped and she shouted,

"No way! You're kidding me!" The rest of the hosts just looked on in confused silence, except of course Kyoya.

"I'm confused." Tamaki's blank statement had all three of us girls rounding on him with identical smiles on our faces and Haruhi exclaimed,

"Nala's cousin our childhood friend! We lost touch a few years ago and this is the first time we've heard from her in years!" The twins opened their mouths to speak, but i cut them off.

"Hang up there guys. Maria, Haru, and I will explain it all. It started several years ago with the death of our moms…" By the end of the story the other's were listening with in a rapt fascination to the tale.

"I'm surprised you didn't already know." Kyoya's smooth voice when i finished talking had me turning to him along with the rest of the people in the room chorusing,

"You knew!?" He adjusted his glasses and regarded me cooly.

"Of course. I assumed you already knew about it though." I facepalmed groaning.

"Oooottoorriii!" He merely raised his eyebrow in question.

"Ya know you do that better than most of the bitchy girls I've met." Haruhi choked on her drink while everyone else stared for a moment before bursting out laughing at me. Face burning i muttered a 'sorry' and slunk over to sit on the couch next to the twins. "Scoot ya boot." Hikaru gaped at me as i plopped down between him and Kaoru, before glancing at his brother as a slow snide smirk slid over his face. "Don't even think about it. I need it normal twins right now not creepy hit on me twins. After the crazy day we've all had i think you can get that." With a huff they stuck their tongues out at me and slumped back against the couch. "Thank you."

"What are we gonna do about Nal-chan's father?" Honey's soft voice was surprisingly firm as he asked the question, but it left the room in silence afterwards.

"Well once he's recovered enough he'll be officially put under arrest and put in jail. An associate of mine took his statement after we all left the hospital and it was pretty damning. He does want to cut a deal though and is giving up all his contacts and underground associates to help his case." Fury flashed through me at that _Cut throat bastard. He only ever looks after his own skin._

"Ahem," Kyoya cleared his throat. "While the police hunt down these people, i would suggest that someone looks after Nala and that she have her own personal guard." Everyone else murmured their approval and i scowled at him.

"Hey I can look after myself Ootori!" He merely stared at me emotionlessly.

"Are you so sure Nala? Could you fight off a group of men older and stronger than you? Are you a judo champion like Mori? A martial arts specialist like Honey?" My face began getting hot

"Well no but i can-"

"Exactly. So accept the fact that you're going to have your own personal detail assigned to you." I groaned

"Fffiiiiiiinnneee. What're you guys gonna do about school though? Can't have the cops following me around in there now can you?" He smirked _Annnddd of course he'd have a plan for this to. _

"You won't need them during the school day. Mainly because you are now a full time host."

"WHAT!?" I gaped at him ignoring the twins snickering on either side of me. "Since when was that DECIDED!? And i do not remember being part of that decision." He chuckled.

"Remember a certain bet you lost? Besides this is the only way we can watch you after school unless you'd prefer to be under guard. It's your choice." _Some choice there…._

"Fine whatever. But why a host? I thought i'd be like the tea service or something."

"Because!" Tamaki leapt up from where he was sitting and yanked me off the couch so we could spin in circles. "Daddy wants to see his daughter bloom and grow and meet new female friends who will influence you for the better!" I was jerked away from him by Mori who noticed my soul rising out of my limp body as Tamaki spun us.

"Senpai please be careful with my best friend." Haruhi lightly smacked the back of his head and he started pouting and railing at her about how he wasn't doing anything wrong.

"Thanks Mori you really saved me there." I looked up and smiled softly at the tall host who just let out a soft grunt and nodded at me. _It's hard to believe these guys aren't what they look like…..they're just so...so...them….there really isn't a good way to describe them other than that they don't look like anything other than rick kids who don't get out in the real world enough._ I heaved a sigh and stood on my own two feet.

"Guys!" I cut Tamaki off mid rant and pointed a finger at the twins when they went to do something weird to Haruhi. "There really doesn't seem to be a choice for me to do anything other than be a host. Ootori," I turned to him, "What type of host would i be?" He pushed his glasses up and took out his black notebook to start writing in. Without looking at me he murmured,

"The guarded type." I gave him a funky look.

"What exactly does the 'guarded' type do?"

"You just have to be you Nal-chan!" Honey held my hand and smiled happily up at me.

"Mn." I laughed softly

"Thanks guys but seriously what gave you all that idea."

"Because it's exactly who you are Nala." Haruhi's voice was gentle. "You guard yourself from everything-

"But once it's close to you you protect it." The twins cut her off and finished for her. _Do i really?_ I thought back over various occasions in my life and Haruhi instantly picked up on it.

"It's like when we were little and first met. You barely talked to me, and would just sit there. Over time you opened up a bit more, but i still didn't think you liked me until those boys bullied me on the swing and you punched one of them. You got suspended for a week but remember? You look right at the principal and said you'd do it all over again if you had to and refused to apologize." I laughed out loud at that memory. That had been an interesting day. Throwing my hands up i acceded.

"Fine, fine. Alright i can be the 'guarded' type. I hope i don't get any creeper fangirls like you guys do though. And i don't have to dress like a boy right?"

Maria burst out laughing at that.

"You? Dress as a boy? Darling you could never! It would take some serious chest binding for that one." I gave her the evil eye playfully.

"Hush up and you two," I pointed at the twins now starting at my chest. "Eyes up here right now. I don't see a face down there." They flushed at being caught and jerked their gazes away from me. Tamaki growled at them, but contained himself when Haruhi rested a gentle hand on his. _Ooh what do we have here? _I grinned evilly at her for the action and she stuck her tongue out at me.

"Dang it." I glanced back to Maria as she glared at her phone. "I have to go Nala work duty and all." She stood up and crossed the room to hug Haruhi and then myself. "I'll see you later." She went towards the door, but before she left she called over her shoulder, "By the way! I texted you Maddy's contact info. Remember you're Nancy over the phone to her! Bye kiddos!" She waved cheerfully and exited the apartment.

"Say Nala if you need chest binders Hikaru and i would be more than happy to help you find some." Hikaru snickered.

"And help you put them on to." Tamaki lost his composure at that and leaping up began chasing the twins around the apartment with a baseball bat. At the sight of that and the memory of him hitting me with one before i ducked behind the chair kyoya was sitting on in hopes they didn't come my way. We passed the night in a similar manner, goofy and happy and doing our best to put the troubles of the last few weeks behind us. It wasn't until the hosts finally left several hours later that as i was sliding into bed i pulled out my phone and sent a single message to a new number.

**-Hey Maddy it's Nancy-**

******Authors note this one is very slightly important please read******

I'M SO BLOODY AGGRAVATED! We put our house on the market last week and have already had three people come view it so everytime i sat down to write i got dragged away to clean so the house was "presentable" I'm so sorry everyone i've been so incredibly slow ack i know i'm a failure shmer! Alright mini explanation time. So I have had the basic plot for this story and it's sequel for several months now and Maddy is incredibly instrumental in both of these but i pinky promise (Yes i'm 15 and still do these and take them seriously) that there will be no more crazy plot twists! From here on out things are gonna get a bit more calm and i'll be focusing more on her time as a host with everyone else before i bring back the depressing stuff. To be quite honest this chapter was hard to write but i tried for all of you and did my best so ppppllleeeaassee please please let me know what you think by reviewing! Reviews make me incredibly happy and help me so much. Also all texting will be in bold like above just thought it would make it easier to figure it out ya know? Anyway i'm off to start chapter 12 hopefully will have it done in a few days (praying no one else wants to view the house so i can do this) and for those of you who did read this THANK YOU AND PLEASE BE PATIENT WITH ME I'M DOING MY BEST! Byyeee everyone enjoy!


	12. Chapter 12

I woke up with a smile. Maddy and i had talked for hours last night, and today was my first day as a host, and my dad was going to jail, and i had come to terms to an extent that my friends had, er, gifts that most people didn't possess. All in all life was beginning to show that she wasn't totally controlled by bad luck, and the sisters Fate and Karma were showing their good sides to me for once. Sliding out of my futon i went to Haruhi's bed.

"Haruhhiiiiii ahhhhhh." I broke off into a yawn as i nudged her awake.

"Mmm five more minutes Nala…" She rolled over giving me her back, and pulled the covers up tight against her chin. I grinned evilly before proceeding to grab the covers and rip them off of her. She leapt out of bed at that.

"Give me my blankets back!" I danced out of her reach.

"No can do Haru-chan." I gave her my best pouty Tamaki face. "We're gonna be late for school if you don't scoot your boot a little faster." She spun, and grabbed the little bedside clock she had off her dresser to check the time, Upon seeing she had less than fifteen minutes left to get ready, squealed and booked it for the bathroom. I shrugged _oookkkkaaayy then good morning to you too dear best friend. _I threw her covers back onto the bed before sliding into the nasty female uniform. _Ugh why can't there be no dress code? It would make life so much better! _

"NALA YOU READY?" Haruhi was already dressed and out of the bathroom and calling for me from the kitchen. I groaned.

"Almost! I just needa brush my teeth really fast!"

"Ok but hurry!" I sprinted to the bathroom and did exactly that, but on the way out the door i snagged a pack of gum and stuffed it into my bag. _Never know when this could be useful. Especially with this being my first day as a host. _

"Uhh Haru...I think we might need to run…" She glanced at her watch, made a horrified noise, and started sprinting. _And here i was thinking i was the track star! Gosh Haru you're fast when you wanna be._ I took off after her. What normally was a ten minute walk, turned into a 5 minute sprint and by the time we reached the school we were both panting with exhaustion and sticky with sweat. As we walked towards the classrooms we managed to stay together and ignore the weird looks from some of the girls at our disheveled state. It wasn't until a whole gaggle of them ran up to ensure that Haruhi was alright, that we were seperated and i gave her a quick wave and a thumbs up before heading into my classroom. Ayanokoji was already there. Taking a seat at my desk i began counting to see how long it would take her to come over and start up on me. I managed to make it to thirteen seconds before i heard her very loud, unwhispered comment.

""Gosh, she's so damn disgusting. Please move her out of the way so I don't catch something. In fact i might catch something just from looking at her." I rolled my eyes, and without looking up as i dug through my bag i said,

"Hey Ayanokoji? The difference between your opinion and a slice of pizza is that i asked for the pizza. Feel free to stop talking now unless you turn into a piece of pizza, then, and only then, will i feel like listening to you." I could feel her glaring daggers at me. Hell screw daggers there was some serious nuclear energy radiating from her side of the room.

"I'm sorry was I talking to you? No. I would rather talk to a wall, then be caught dead talking to someone as low as you." I smirked at that unable to resist making a sassy comment back.

"Hey guess what you just talked to me so does that mean you're gonna be dead now?" She let out a low gasp, and I murmured, "Just saying. You kinda brought that one on yourself." At that moment, the teacher walked into the classroom and upon telling us all to sit down, began her lecture. About halfway through the class, i thought i felt something brush the back of my head, but ignored it and continued scribbling in my notebook. It wasn't until people began tittering that i began to get worried. Lifting my head i began to look around the classroom in confusion.

'Fuyumi-san are you alright?" I looked up at the teacher my eyebrows furrowed.

"I… think so sir…" At that a burst of laughter sounded from Ayanokoji. The teacher sighed.

"Please stand up and turn around Fuyumi-san." I was nervous now, but did as i was told. I heard a heavy sigh followed by the words, "You have gum in your hair Fuyumi-san." My hand twitched and my jaw clenched. _So that''s what i felt. I wasn't imagining anything bloody wonderful_. A snicker from her seat had both the teacher and i turning to face Ayanokoji. At the look the teacher gave her she merely rested her chin in top of her hand and innocently tittered.

"Seika-san do you know anything about this?" She gave the teacher an immaculate smile and murmured.

""How would I possibly know how she gum got stuck in her hair sensei? Maybe she got it from digging in the trash again this morning." My face burned and even though the people in my class were nice people, to avoid the wrath of Ayanokoji a nervous tittering filed the room from it's other occupants. The teacher frowned heavily at Ayanokoji's words, but _probably because she's a rich and powerful bitch hah Doctor Suess moment!_ she didn't comment on them instead turning back to me and saying,

"You can leave and go to the nurses office to get cleaned up Fuyumi-san." Nodding and ignoring the ever growing embarrassment i stalked out of the room. _How big exactly is this wad of _I brushed a hand over the back of my head lightly_….oh…_ I had no idea how i missed it when it was thrown into my hair, the gumball was about the size of a nickel. I growled softly to myself. _That sneaky little..ugh!_ An idea struck and i took a short detour. Opening the door to classroom 1-A I caught the teacher's attention and waving her over said that i had been sent to get the twins because they were needed elsewhere. She didn't buy it at first but i came up with a random yet plausible excuse, possibly hinting about how they were rich and wouldn't be happy if they missed this appointment, making her become flustered and she let them out. Upon shutting the door, they turned to give me sneaky looks.

"So Nala," One of them began.

"What did you need us for?" the other finished. I scowled at them and spinning so they could see the gum whispered harshly,

"This! I can't get it out and i don't want to have to pull a Haruhi move. Me and short haircuts would never work in a million years." They were silent for a moment before they took me by the arms and began to drag me somewhere. Somehow instead of the nurses office, we ended up in music room 3.

"Uh guys...why are we here?" They merely flashed evil grins instead of answering, and a moment later i was sitting in a chair in a 'small' side room filled with so much makeup, clothes, and beauty supplies my jaw dropped.

"YOU GUYS HAVE YOUR OWN STUDIO IN HERE!?" Hikaru smirked.

"Of course we do. How do you think we get ready for cosplay days?" I just shook my head at that, too in awe to give a response. They stood behind me for a moment and silently conferred with each other.

"I just need your help getting this out guys….faster is better so we can all get back to class." I could feel the sneaky smiles they were directing at me now.

"But Nnnaaalllaa we have to give you a makeover before club hours anyway later."

"So we might as well do it now" I sweatdropped.

"A...A makeover..?"

"MMMhhmmm."

"Uh guys i've never...I don't even wear makeup! Besides we have to get to class and-" Kaoru cut me off.

"We'll be fast don't worry." Hikaru snickered.

"Mmm we can take our time later with you." _That was such a double innuendo._

"Uh, alright just hurry. I don't want to deal with Ootori's hissy fit if we get in trouble for being out of class too long. Especially with this my first day being a host." They merely made a humming noise of acknowledgement before they got to work. I was turned away from the mirror so i couldn't see what they did, but i felt the gently scrubbing off my scalp as they worked the gum out, before scissors appeared in Kaoru's hands and weight began to drop off as he trimmed my now wet hair. I eyed Hikaru warily as he sat on the edge of the counter toying with a hairdryer as he waited for his brother to finish. It was especially nerve wracking to see him send a maniacal grin in Kaoru's direction. By the time they had both finished and stepped away with matching looks of smug success on their faces, i felt like my hair had taken a total turn around. When i saw it in the mirror my jaw dropped open. Rather than it's usual long, tangled, unbrushed mess, the girl who stared back at me had hair that brushed her shoulders and hung around her face in soft feathery waves.

"Wu...wow." My voice was all soft awe and i raised a hand running it through the now silky locks, the girl in the mirror mimicking my actions. "This is incredible you two." They grinned down at me and i met Kaoru's eyes in the mirror. "Thank you."His cheeks dusted over with a light pink which confused me, but i chose to ignore it. Instead leaning in close to fiddle with my hair. "Wow." I whispered softly to myself, _I guess the twins aren't half as bad as i assumed they were at first-_ Kaoru ruined that happy thought by muttering,

"Kyoya told us we'd have to do it later anyway so it's not a big deal." His brother chimed in,

"Yeah besides this isn't even close to done yet we'll have to do your makeup and stuff later." _Cue the happy thoughts getting squished._

"Guys no makeup! I'm not your personal barbie doll!" They shared a glance.

"We don't have a choice." I glared at them as they spoke in unison. "Kyoya ordered it." Hikaru added.

"You're his personal makeover project." And Kaoru just had to speak his mind.

"Ya know he didn't even go this far for Haruhi." I rolled my eyes.

"Guys he's not giving me special treatment c'mon he's the shadow king he'd never! Also you have to take into account that Haruhi is hiding the 'I'm a girl part'. Everyone who comes to this school knows i'm a girl. And since they're all rich chicks i have to look the part." They shrugged noncommittally. "Shmer." I stood up running my hand through my hair again before turning away from the mirror to them. "We should head back to class now." On a split second decision i hugged them both before sliding between the two, and cheerfully skipping towards the door. "See you guys later!" I left two shocked twins in my wake as i left the room letting the doors swing shut with a *_thud* _behind me.

"My little, precious lambs we, the host club, have an announcement to make." I mouthed the words along with Tamaki while i hid behind the curtain separating me from the crowd of girls as i waited for my cue to brush it aside and stand on stage with the club members. I could hear the rustling of dresses, the low murmur of steady whispering as the girls moved restlessly, curious as to what new surprise their beloved hosts had in store for them. "We met someone who we believe to be perfect for this. We know that many of you have bemoaned the fact that you do not have a female host you can talk to, and gain comfort from in times of trial that we cannot help you with. That is why it is my pleasure dear lambs, to introduce you to our first ever female host, the guarded type, Nala Fuyumi." I pushed the curtain aside and walked carefully over to stand by the posing hosts, taking my place in front of, and between the twins.

"Hello." I gave the girls a small smile. "Nice to see you all." The room was silent for a moment, before it exploded with whispers.

"So Nala-san, is it true that you shocked Ayanokoji-san so badly she had to leave the classroom today?" I stared at the girl as she spoke, my first group of customers were all leaning forward in rapt attention as they waited for my answer. Hesitating slightly, i slowly nodded my head

"Yeah. I got gum in my hair by, uh, accident so i had to get it out and when i came back, uh, slightly…._transformed_ would be the word. She was less than thrilled." One of the girls leaned closer and whispered secretively.

"But it wasn't an accident was it Nala-san. We heard that-"

"Stop." I cut her off gently. "I'm sorry, but i can't listen to rumors. Everyone has a secret they want kept safe and rumors spread those secrets around. I have secrets, Ayanokoji-san has secrets, we all do to some extent and i don't want rumors spread involving either of us. I'd really like to keep my privacy safe." They stared at me blankly for a moment before one of them began screeching and went into total fangirl mode, The other two quickly followed her example.

"Nala-san is soo smart!"  
"She is so kind!"

"AYYYEEE!" I'll admit, their reaction was so unexpected that i jumped, let out a little yelp of surprise, began panicking, and without thought leapt up and sprinted across the room to Kyoya.

"OOTORI WHAT DO I DO!? DO I NEED TO GET THEM TEA!? WATER!? ICE PACKS!? A BRAIN AND A SENSE OF SANITY!? HHHEEEELLPPPP!" So maybe i was being a little over dramatic, but i'd never dealt with girls FANGIRLING OVER ME! He merely raised his head from where he'd been looking down at his black book and gave me a scary look.

"Nala go back there right now. You don't just abandon customers like that or we'll lose business."

"BUT I THINK I SAW ONE GIRL LOSE HER SOUL FOR A SECOND IT WAS TERRIFYING!" With an exasperated sigh, Kyoya uncrossed his legs, stood up from his seat, and grabbing me by the hand dragged me back over to my table.

"I apologize ladies." He smiled at them, but when he glanced over at me his glasses flashed evilly. _Scary…. _Kyoya was all smiles for the girls as he charmed them back from the edge of abandonment, but as he forcefully shoved me back down into my seat he whispered harshly, "Be more careful Miss Fuyumi." and left. Sheepishly smiling i turned back to the girls.

"Uh sorry i'm just very new to this." They all smiled back at me happily.

"Oh it's quite alright we understand!" I smiled at the pretty brunette with the bob cut. _Ka...uh what was it..KANA! HAH!_

"Thank you Kana-san." She blushed slightly, and i forcefully pushed all thoughts of secret lesbianism out of my head. _Stop it think nice thoughts there's nothing wrong with any girl who is an open or closet lesbian coming to see me. I'm here to keep their secrets and help them out not judge them for their life style. There's nothing wrong with it anyway, as long as they don't hit on me i'm cool with them. _ "We actually had some questions for you Nala-san if it's ok for us to ask…" I snapped out of my thoughts and hesitantly murmured a yes. "Well we," She beckoned to the other girls, "We're wondering what exactly your host type is and what you're here to do for us." _Oh i can answer that. Except, _One look at their earnest, hopeful faces made my decision for me. _I'm not giving them the lines Ootori told me to give them. Imma be genuine. _

"Well you all caught Tamaki saying I'm the 'guarded type' correct?" They all nodded. "Well i'm here for you to rant to. I will keep your secrets close to my heart. I'm here to help guard and protect you and what you tell me. I'm your confidant and counselor. I'll give you all the advice i have, and help you in any way i can with what you tell me." The girls looked at me confused. _Seriously?_ I sighed inaudibly, "Basically i'm the guardian of your secrets." At that their faces brightened and they all perked up.

"Really?" I smiled at Kana.

"Yep. I'm not the guarded one here, i guard you and what you have to say." Mentally i was grinning like an idiot when i noticed out of the corner of my eye a familiar, vexed face glaring at me as i spoke. _Take that one Ootori. I might be doing this but I define myself. No one else can. _

"Um well can you give me some advice then…" I turned to one of the other girls. _Crap i don't know her name. I'll need to get that later _I leaned in closer, confidentially murmuring.

"Of course." She fidgeted nervously, her big brown eyes darting back and forth while a rosy blush sprang up into her cheeks.

"Well, um, i...like someone...but i don't know how to tell him." I furrowed my brows thoughtfully.

"Well are you two close?" She nodded her head furiously at that.

"Yes, yes! We've been friends since birth." I nodded slowly.

"Well then just tell him. If you guys are close it's possible he likes you back. It can't hurt to let him know how you feel. It's better to tell him sooner rather than later, because you don't want to let this opportunity slip by." She nodded and sat back to contemplate. While she did that however, i noticed her friend nervously twitching in her seat so i turned to her. "How about you miss? You look nervous." She shook her head, lowering it till her hair covered her face and she wasn't making eye contact with me before whispering.

"I-it's just the talk of boys reminded me of my boyfriend….He's not always nice to me. He s-says things, and does t-things. Like he laughs at me when i try and do something nice for him….He tells me to be quiet and look nice...and, um...It bothers me and i've tried to change so he'll like me better but i don't know if he does….but i want him to be pleased..." I scowled angrily at the ground pure fury shooting through me.

" Ladies, here is a tip from me to you, some information that is going to set you free. Men are never going to take us seriously. Men are conditioned from day one to see us as less than, to think we're a joke, we're weak, we're stupid, we're irrational, and we're deficient. Most men never even attempt to unlearn that conditioning, let alone actually manage to do it." Her head came up her eyes widening, but i continued on. "The second you stop shaping your life and your choices and your wants and yourself around how best to make men take you seriously is the second you can start actually living." I looked her straight in the eye. "Don't play their game. Don't waste your energy or your brain space trying to figure out how to calibrate your actions to get the best reaction out of them. Stop doing everything you can to make your back as flat as possible so they have a smooth trip walking all over you. Demand your space, stop apologizing and accommodating, and let them figure out how the fuck to deal with it." They all winced at my language but i forged on. "Girls you need to be able to stand up for yourself. Don't let a man control you. It's an equal partnership, and we came out of the dark ages where women were controlled by men a lloonnngg time ago. Stand up for yourself, that's all i can say here. Don't let your boyfriend _ever _look down on you. If he doesn't treat you like an equal he's not worth it." I think that when they left at the end of club hours that they had learned something. I noticed the shy, mousy girl straighten her shoulders as she walked out and i smiled inwardly. _Good girl. You can do this. _

"So an equal hm? Also you changed what i told you to tell them completely." I rolled my eyes at Kyoya's comment as he spoke from behind me.

"Like i told them Ootori, a girl shouldn't ever let herself be walked all over. I'm not gonna let you walk all over me buddy." I stood and turned to face him, grinning at his annoyed expression. "We're equals whether you like it or not Ootori. Best get used to it sooner than later." Seeing Haruhi waving at me from by the doors I grabbed my book bag from under the plush velvet seat, and called goodbye to everyone. Winking at Kyoya playfully as i left him standing there, i made my way over to Haruhi, and we headed out of Music Room #3 to go home. When my head hit the pillow that night, i mentally went over my day from waking up in the morning, seeing Ayonokoji's face when i'd returned to the classroom with a new hairstyle, to the innocent, shy girls in the club, to Kyoya's face when I'd changed his orders to something entirely different. My eyes fluttered shut, and I drifted off to sleep with a smile on my face.

***Authors note***

Alright yes i admit i need to cut back on these, but what did you all think? A good first day as host? Be prepared to see the more typical side of the host club from here on out, nothing too crazy aside from baseball swinging Tamaki's, mischievous twins, and awkward Kyoya and Kaoru moments. I had an idea though. If you guys sent me chapter requests for things you want to see the host club do on their club days let me know! i'll pick some of my favorite ones that ican work with and focus a chapter around that :) It's just an idea but i thought it would be worth a shot! For all of you beautiful people who are still reading this story despite my slowness thank you! Enjoy!


	13. Chapter 13

"So in class today my friends and i somehow got to talking about how AIDS became a thing. Weirdest conversation ever." I smiled to myself as i listened to Maddy talk on the phone as i worked on homework. "Then the teacher got involved and told us about it. Apparently it got transferred through bestiality!" She sounded way too cheerful for that sentence and i felt my eyebrows shoot up as i murmured a shocked,

"Oh?"

"MMmhhmmm. Some dude had sex with a monkey then had sex with a person and wabam! AIDS are born." I burst out laughing. "Oh and also did you know fish can get AIDS? Don't ask me how that works but yeah they can. Also apparently coconut water can be used for an emergency blood transfusion." I was choking on my own laughter.

"S-STOP! Please Maddy i," I broke off snickering. "Can't even. Only you dude, only you." I could almost imagine the wicked grin which would have been on her face had she been sitting there with me. It had always been like that. Whenever she said something she knew she'd get a shocked response for, which she did a lot, her eyes would squint as she tried to hold in the laughter, and a mischievous grin would spread over her face before she burst out laughing.

"Hey Maddy serious question here."

"Mm?" I pursed my lips.

"What do you want to do when you're older?" She was silent for a moment before answering.

"I, uh, well...you can't laugh ok?" _Which means she's serious about whatever crazy idea this is oh man. _

"Pinky promise." I heard her take a deep breath, before she blurted out,

"I want to open a coffee shop. But not just any coffee shop. I want it to have a really angry name, I've been thinking calling it 'I'm Not A Morning person'. And then all the drinks will have really angry names like, 'My In-Laws Are In Town', or 'Studying For Finals'. Then some of the really bad ones like 'Can I Get A Fuck Off' will have shots of tequila in them. Just because..." She trailed off. "I dunno though. I know my parents won't ever go for it and it'll probably crash and burn, but it's just kinda my dream job." I smiled softly. Her voice as she spoke was soft, dreamy like she was lost in her own little imaginary world in a coffee shop full of her ideas.

"I'll be your business partner Mads." I heard her suck in a sharp breath.

"YOU WILL?" I chuckled.

"Of course. If one of us is going to do something crazy then both of us are in on it."

"Awes-oh shit. I have to go text me later _Nancy _bye." Then she was gone and i was left listening to the silence. Until my phone started to buzz.

**-I'll be your keeper for life as your guardian I'll be your warrior of care your first warden I'll be your angel on call, I'll be on demand The greatest honor of all, as your guardian-**

I rolled my eyes letting out a heavy sigh.

-**New song lyrics Mads?-** A moment of silence before a buzz

**-Nah that one isn't my work-** A second later. **-Check your email- **I did just that and my eyebrows flew up. _So THESE are her new song lyrics huh? _

**Since when did you start writing such dark music?- **

"**Since my parents dragged me away from my emotional safety net- **I stared at the phone sadly. Maddy had never been good with new people and new situations. She always tried to bring either myself or Haruhi with her if it was something she'd never done before. She'd been diagnosed with social anxiety and depression as a child which was the reason why, but she struggled with branching out. It didn't help that her parents had kept her homeschooled her entire childhood and then, she'd told me this when we first started talking again, put her into a school. Her anxiety and depression had only grown worse, but she put up a brave front. Like she'd told me earlier before she began talking about AIDS she 'might as well put on a brave face so the sharks don't smell blood in the water and come for her'. _Poor Maddy. Urgh i wish i could be there with you._

**-Cheer up girl. You can come back here soon.-**

**-I'm mentally rolling my eyes at you right now Nala. We both know my parents don't want me back here. It'll take some serious convincing to let me stay with Maria. And we both know that i'll be stuck grounded in my house for life if they find out i'm talking to you before the required 18 year old deadline.- **

Before i could respond, there was a knock at the bedroom door and it opened to reveal Haruhi and the host club.

"Guys...it's saturday...? And, um, you ok Haruhi? You like kinda annoyed…." Haruhi gave me a 'don't even try' look and stalked into the room.

"They followed me with my dad to the supermarket to watch me. They attracted all sorts of unwanted attention there. Hell one person called the cops cause they thought i was in trouble and being stalked. I had to sit there and explain to the police that they weren't stalking me while they sat there in the background." I winced. _Yup that's rough._

"I'm sorry dude that's no fun." She glared at them out of the corner of her eyes.

"You have no idea Nala, you have no idea." Sadly no i didn't since i hadn't had the pleasure of dealing with the full host club craziness outside of the host club. Instead of answering her, i grabbed my phone and let Nala know that the craziness had entered the room and i had to run.

Turning to Tamaki i gave him a glance, remembered something Maddy had told me and broke down laughing.

"Nal-chan? Are you ok?" Honey's sweet voice made me stop to brush away the laughter induced tears, and shook my head struggling to hold the laughter in. They all stared at me like i was a freak so waving my hands and calming myself down i explained through comments broken up by giggling,

"So I learned from my friend that coconut water can be used as an emergency blood transfusion, and of course my first thought just now upon seeing Tamaki was 'can a vampire drink coconut water?' and this led to the thought of vegan vampires."

I began laughing again doubling over on my chair. There was a moment of silence before the twins and Haruhi broke down with me.

"Hear that boss? You can be a vegan vampire!" The twins couldn't hold it together and collapsed on the bed pointing and guffawing. Tamaki scowled and began pouting at us all unable to see the humor in it. Kyoya merely shook his head in disbelief muttering something about simple minded females. i turned to him.

"Hush your face Ootori cause i heard that! You're clairvoyant so if you don't want to hear my bad jokes you should have brought earplugs to use if you're gonna know ahead of time." He raised an eyebrow.

"You think that's how it works Miss Fuyumi?" I glared.

"Don't call me that! And yeah i do." He shook his head in disbelief.

"Unbeknownst to you apparently, that's not how it works." I couldn't resist muttering,

"No duh, i'm not the psychic in this relationship." He gave me a funny look which i chose to ignore.

"It's not something i can just will to happen. It happens when it happens. I only have minor control over it." I let out a small snicker, _So the great Ootori doesn't control all? What a shocker. _

"Do you do readings?" My voice was full of excitement at the thought. He frowned.

"I don't know. i've never tried to before." Without hesitation i leapt out of my chair, dashed over to him and thrust out my hands.

"I volunteer as tribute!" He didn't get the reference so I tried again. "Try with me."

He frowned thoughtfully at my hands, before picking them up in his own, and closing his eyes. I could feel everyone's eyes on us, but chose to ignore it. There was soft silence in the room as Kyoya stood there, my hands held in his, eyes shut, face purposely blank as he did his mojo. Suddenly however, he jerked his hands out of mine and his cultivated mask dropped for a moment revealing utter shock before it slid back into place.

"What did you see?"

"Kyoya?"

"Kyo-chan?"

"He brushed aside the groups worried and confused questions instead narrowing his eyes at me.

"Don't come to my house." He practically threw my hands from his and exited the room leaving the rest of us in confusion. _What was that?_ The twins still sitting on the bed turned, along with the rest of the host club, to face me.

"What was that?" I just shook my head still staring at the door in shock.

"I have no idea Kaoru, I have no idea."

**Kyoya's POV**

I stalked out of Haruhi's and Nala's bedroom unable to contain the anger and confusion warring inside me. When she'd bounced across the room, her green eyes alight with joy at the prospect of having me read her future i hadn't been able to say no. I'd planned to treat it like an experiment, but the hands that were placed into mine, were soft, delicate, not something i'd expected from a musician and i'd lost my original plan to treat it like an experiment. In all honesty, i hadn't expected it to work, but when i'd shut my eyes and concentrated on the small girl in front of me i had been surprised yet again.

What i saw was like a beautiful nightmare. She was sprinting towards an unseen figure, rain pouring from the sky, lightening flashing. There had been the loud boom of thunder, and i'd heard her cry out even as the figure she chased slowly disappeared into the rain. I had felt Nala collapse, pure anguish running rampant through her as the unseen figure was dragged away by other ghostly bodies. The vision had flashed to my house. A small, soaked brunette sobbing as she stumbled up the driveway and began pounding on the front door, and deep inside even as she knocked i knew, i knew there was nothing i could do for her. So the door remained locked leaving a small shattered girl on the doorstep in the dark, rainy night.

I stepped out of the apartment, and looking up at the sunny sky muttered,

"While i knew that she would bring a whole new set of challenges and adventure to the club, I hadn't been expecting this." I dropped my head forward and began walking down to the car.

_You Miss Nala Fuyumi, are a whole new world of trouble. The question is, Can I handle it?_

**Yep an Authors Note...again**

Do i do these too much? I dunno tell me to stop if you want me to though. But yes here is a short filler chapter to make up for how slowly i've been posting these days due to life's craziness. I wanted to bring Maddy in and ooh Kyoya moments nehehe and foreshadowing *insert evil french laugh* i got a plan though! I think….here's to my head staying clear enough for me to be able to get some good normal chapters out for you guys wish me luck!


	14. Chapter 14

After the strange incident on Saturday, everything went back to normal, and before she knew it Monday had rolled around…..

"Nala get up!" I groaned, choosing rather to blatantly ignore Haruhi's words and tug the comforter over my head huddling into the delicious warmth of my covers. She let out a low growl and began to tug on the blanket. I however, only held onto it tighter, my frustration building slowly.

"Go awayyy!" I could picture Haruhi's expression of annoyance as she snapped,

"This is what happens when you're up till one in the morning on the phone!" _True….I'll cut it off short with Maddy next time…._ Of course i wasn't going to admit that to Haruhi and receive one of her infamous scoldings, so instead…

"That has nothing to do with it! I'm just..uh...sleepy today from uh…" I could _feel _her annoyance now.

"From what? Sleeping all day yesterday? Oh yes that's so incredibly exhausting." I winced. Yes so maybe i had slept in a little late yesterday….or the whole day to be precise but WORSE THINGS HAVE HAPPENED! I let out an aggravated groan and sat up abruptly.

"Fine. Whatever i'm up." She narrowed her eyes at me and my angry swirling darkening aura, before wisely choosing to back out of the room. It was one of those days where you're furious at nothing and everything.

The school hours passed in a blur of aggravation. Even Ayanokoji picked up on the 'I will not hesitate to murder you right now because i'm not calm' vibe radiating off of me and for once was smart and let me be.

After school ended, i stalked up all three flights of stairs _Fuck stairs, _and entered the host club room. The hosts were all gathered around the whiteboard heatedly discussing something, but at my entrance they all slowly raised their heads to face me. Upon noticing Tamaki's eyes lighting up as his dazzling smile slid across his face, along with the tension gathering in his body i held up hand.

"I'm already picturing duct-taping your mouth shut Tamaki. Don't push it." He stopped where he was, smile dropping, body losing its tenseness and sparkles fading, before he dropped down into his depressed corner. Not even that helped my mood, so turning away from them, I headed across the room and dropped onto the couch. Closing my eyes, i swung my legs over the arm of the seat and tried to get comfy. It was all going so well, i could feel the gentle lull of sleep calling to me. But even as i slipped into the wonderful darkness of sleep….

*CRASH!*

My eyes shot open.

"That will be another ten thousand yen Haruhi."

"WHAT!? It was just a cup!"

"A very expensive cup." I threw a hand over my face wishing i could shut up Kyoya and Haruhi.

"Handmade in France." Add a pair of simultaneous twins to that wish list to. Heaving myself up and off the couch i headed to one of the small side rooms. Rather than having to deal with Kyoya's office and the memories of the first day i was here, i headed to the only other side room i knew of. The twin's studio. After quietly shutting the door behind me, i went over and collapsed into the chair in front of the table with the mirror. Crossing my arms on the table, i buried my head in them. There was the soft rasp a moment later as the door opened.

"Haruhi just let me be. I need some space and quiet."

"It's not Haruhi…" I rolled my head to the side to find Kaoru there.

"Oh..hey..sorry.." He chuckled softly.

"No you're not." I winced, but he shook his head at me. ""Don't worry about it," A small shrug. "Hikaru gets like this to.." I put my head back in it's original position.

"I don't wanna deal with people today." My voice was muffled, full of stubbornness. I didn't receive a response, and after a moment of silence my curiosity won out and i raised my head to find Kaoru digging through a drawer. "What are you doing?"

"Getting a...aha!" He turned triumphantly brandishing a hairbrush. I gave him a look full of confusion. "I'm brushing your hair out so put your head back down." I rolled my eyes feigning annoyance, but in reality felt my mood pick up because i was thrilled. _It's been so long since someone has played with my hair._ A moment later, gentle hands delicately began their work.

_I really don't want to but….UGH! _

"Thanks...Kaoru…"

"Hmm?"

"I said thanks!" My face burned after i snapped, so a mumbled 'sorry' joined a moment later.

"You know," he was quiet for a moment. "You're a lot like Hikaru." He didn't wait for me to respond, instead answering my unspoken question. "You both are so full of emotions, and hot headed." I could hear the smile in his voice as he thought of his brother.

"You really care about him don't you." It wasn't a question, but he answered my comment anyway.

"Of course. He's my twin. I would do anything for him."

"I get that. So that's way you stepped back from your feelings for Haruhi isn't it?" His hands faltered and he tugged on a knot in my hair by accident. I winced, "Ow.."

"I, uh, what're you.."

"Don't play dumb Kaoru. I've seen how he looks at her, and how you look at him."

"O-oh…" I Shut my eyes slowly.

"It's hard to watch though sometimes. I want to take her and shake her till she sees common sense. She is utterly blind to both her feelings, and the feelings of the guys around her." Kaoru didn't respond at first, until he let out a short sigh.

"I told him I'd step back. I don't like her like that anymore, she's just a friend to me now."

"Do you want to see her with Hikaru?"

"Of course." There was no hesitation in his voice.

"I…." I hesitated. "I don't know dude. I think she's blind to her feelings for Tamaki. Hell she has to like him someway...she's his freaking breakfast. She's the fast food to his cravings! The drug to his addiction!"

"I know."

"Then...why?" Before he could respond, the door swung open and an unemotional voice asked,

"Is she any better?" My previous feelings of annoyance came crashing back down at the interruption and rolling my head to the side i glared at Kyoya. He of course blatantly ignored it, instead choosing to walk by us both and going to the costume rack. After some rustling was heard, something was laid down on the table next to my head and rolling said body part to face the other side, i found myself face to face with a mound of fabric.

"What's this?"

"What does it look like?" I rolled my eyes.

"It's obviously a small country Ootori." From his position behind me i heard Kaoru snort at that causing a soft smile to spread over my feelings mentally that i'd made him happy. Something must've shown on my face, because i felt Kyoya frowning down at me.

"Kaoru would you step out for a minute? I believe Hikaru needed you for something."

"Yeah sure." As he left, he placed the brush on the table, and then as he walked away, his hand lightly trailed down my shoulder before sliding off. After the door shut behind him there was a moment of silence before Kyoya spoke. His voice was far colder than normal.

"Miss Fuyumi." My own frown started forming at the words. "I'd suggest you not fall for Kaoru, or instigate him falling for you. Having one twin head over heels for someone they won't get is enough as it is. I don't need two cases of it in the club." My jaw dropped _What the hell! Who does he think i am!?_

"What the heck Ootori?!" i stood up, fists clenched, to face him. "I'm not a floozy Ootori. Nor am i a player. I'm especially not going to play my friends romantically! I don't know who you've had to work with in the past," He winced slightly like someone came to mind, "But i'm not them and i have bloody morals! Bloody hell Ootori you seriously know how to lighten a girl's mood." He merely shrugged as if he hadn't done anything.

"I'm merely stating the facts as i see them Miss Fuyumi." I ground my teeth and stalked forward. Poking him in the shoulder i snapped.

"Well you're seeing them wrong. You just watch Ootori. I'll prove you wrong." I turned away from him, but before i could walk away he called out from behind me.

"Oh really? You think you can prove me wrong?" I stopped where i was, and slowly, an almost maniacal grin spread across my face, echoing in the soft words i spoke next.

"Someone is going to knock you off your high horse one of these days Ootori. I'm just saying that i'm going to the the one to do it." So saying, i scooped up the clothes, and exited the room to go change a small smile sliding over my face at the thought of the challenge ahead of me, and my bad attitude melting away as i focused on how to carry through on my promise to Kyoya.

_What the actual hell am i wearing? I LOVE it! _It was some sort of princess costume. A soft forest green, with a flowing train and off the shoulder sleeves. It shimmered as i moved, and i couldn't help but feel my mood pick up. Costumes were one of my guilty pleasures. I LOVED to cosplay, and it's an extra bonus if you feel beautiful and catching and just a little sexy at the same time. I sailed out of the changing room into the main room, and sneaking up behind Haruhi….

"HHHAARRUHHIII!" She jumped five feet off the ground.

"Sweet mother of pearl Nala you scared me! What was that for?!" I grinned.

"That was for this morning, but I'm good now. Dressing up and having Kaoru do my hair made everything so much better. I feel able to handle life now…" I winked, "Besides i look good to! Oh! I also challenged Ootori so that might be part of it." She sweatdropped.

"Challenged him to what exactly?" I grinned widely at her, and maybe a tad bit wickedly.

"That i'd prove him wrong!"

"Good luck with that." It was my turn to jump at the voices speaking in unison behind me.

"Kyo-chan doesn't ever lose Nal-chan."

"Mn." At some point, the other hosts had appeared around me, all except Tamaki who was carrying on a conversation of some sort with Kyoya. I playfully scowled at them and poked Haruhi in the arm.

"I can do this! Y'all are just doubters!" The twins looked at each other, shrugged, and said,

"It's your funeral."

"Why you!"

"OY NALA WE WE'RE KIDDING PUT DOWN THE CHAIR!"

"NO NOT TILL I WHACK YOU BOTH OVER THE HEAD WITH IT!"

"NO!"

"JERKS!"

"NALA STOP CHASING THE TWINS! FOR THE LOVE OF MONKEYS!"

"NO I REFUSE HARU! THEY'RE MEAN AND DOUBTFUL!"

"WHAT DID YOU TWO DO TO MY PRECIOUS DAUGHTER!?"

"TAMAKI PUT DOWN THE DAMN BAT!"

And that, is when i discovered that side rooms weren't the only rooms in the host club. I turned my head to the side to see Tamaki bearing down on all of us with a bat. The twins and i freaked out and scattered, them through one door, me through another.

_It's kinda dark in here….._ I began to shiver. I hated the dark. It was an endless blackness that played tricks on your mind and pulled on your emotions. The worst is when i would find myself staring into the darkness and think i saw something from an old memory, but no. It was just the empty blackness screwing with my head.

"Hello?" I let out a yelp and spun to find a spectral figure in a long black cloak with a hood standing there. "Are you here to join the black magic club by any chance?" The voice was low, hypnotic. Somehow matching the figure he was. "You get a free beelzenef curse doll as well." I began edging away _Where the hell is the door outta here!? Black magic club!? Since when do we have one of those!? _

***Authors note***

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who gave me chapter ideas:) Special thanks to Wildflower84 and Pocket Rocket22 you guys are the best!


	15. Chapter 15

I could only gape at the guy in front of me.

"Uhh….umm...I'm sorry...I'm not here for that...I, er, took a wrong turn….Point me to the door and i'll just, um, get outta your hair…" He stepped a bit closer, head cocked to the side, and i let out an involuntary squeak.

"Are you quite sure?" I nodded vigorously, head tucked into my chest and eyes averted from the guy in front of me. There was a moment of silence, before something touched my cheek and i let out a small shriek and leapt back upon finding the guy right in front of me, head bent low to mine having caused his hair to brush my face. "Are you ok? You seem...frightened." I could only stutter in shock at his sudden closeness.

"N-n-n-no-o-o-o i-i-i-'m f-f-f-i-i-in-ne." His eyes narrowed as if he was looking deep into my very soul.

"No you're not. You're terrifie-wah!" Somehow, he lost his balance as he leaned closer and fell. Tipping into me and knocking us both down. Suffice it to say it was an awkward position to be caught in as even as we hit the ground a light suddenly appeared as a door was thrown open and Tamaki was heard screaming,

"WE'RE COMING FOR YOU NALA DO NOT FEAR WE WON'T LET NEKOZAWA HAVE…..you?" I craned my head over the shoulder of the figure on top of me to find the horrified host club members staring in at us.

"Uh..hey guys...wanna help a sister out?" Tamaki, the twins, and Honey continued to gape.

"Mitsukuni don't look." Mori put his hand over Honey's eyes and began pulling him away from the door.

"Takashi what is Nal-chan doing with Nekozawa-kun?"

"I'll tell you later." My face burned and i couldn't help but holler,

"Dang it Mori! Nothing is happening that needs to be told of or not told of!"

"Hmph." I rolled my eyes before giving my best puppy dog eyes to Tamaki.

"Tttaaammaakkiii help me please!" Rather than help me, i could've sworn i saw his soul float away as he crumbled to the ground muttering to himself. "Hikaru? Kaoru?" They appeared to snap out of their dazed state, but i knew i was screwed as soon as i saw the matching smirks on their faces.

"Nope!"

"You got into it,"

"You can get out of it." And with that they grabbed the 'boss' and pulled him away. That left Haruhi standing there staring at me in shock.

"Haru don't leave me to!" I was starting to panic a bit at the thought of being stuck alone with this guy in the dark. _I hate the dark _"Don't go Ha-" Even as i spoke and she stepped forward, Tamaki appeared out of no where seemingly perfectly fine and shouting,

"NO HARUHI MY PRECIOUS DAUGHTER DO NOT ENTER THAT ROOM OF EVIL AND CALAMITY!" And yanked her away in a small whirlwind. I began to freak out then.

"Get off of me!" Thrashing furiously, i shoved the guy off of me and scrambled back away from him as far as possible. He dazedly sat up and began talking to his hand puppet cat thingy. I caught something being said about it being too bright, before, a moment later the door slammed shut pitching the room into total darkness.

"Hey! W-wait a minute! Turn the light on! Black magic club guy!? HEYY-Oh." My shouting stopped a split second later when a candle flickered dimly across the room throwing its' wavering light over the 'small' side room. I glanced warily at it, before glancing from side to side.

Scooting forward a few feet, i glanced from side to side again before zipping across the room to the wonderful little light source. _Ahhh thank goodness._ _Wait…._pausing i furrowed my brows in confusion. _ Where'd that guy go? He must've heard me and lit this so he can't be a total creep...granted his introduction could've used some, er, work. But he must have a sense of humanity. Sooo… _"Hey!" I hollered into the darkness that the light danced at the edge of. "Cape dude! I know you're there so come out here right now!" There was no response and i stamped my foot in frustration. _What on earth? That little….wait! I'VE GOT IT! _Sliding my hands into my pocket i grinned when i found what i was looking for. _Now what was it Tamaki called him…? Oh right Nekozawa! _"OY NEKOZAWA! I've got gum! Come out and i'll give you a piece!" A moment later there was a small scuffle in the dark and a whisper.

"Gum?" I heaved a sigh. _He sounds like he has no idea what i'm talking about. _

"Ya know? Chewing gum? I dunno do you rich people have a fancy name for it?"

"No." He appeared at the edge of the light and i held myself very still. _Rule numba 9: Do not show fear. _

"Cool. Here." I stuck my hand out holding said piece of gum and began to deliberately avoid looking at him as he edged forward. It was like trying to convince a shy animal to come towards you, and i couldn't help but feel a tad bit successful upon feeling him take it from my hand.

"Sssoo….." _Is now a bad time to mention the door and leaving? _Before i could act upon my thoughts he murmured a thank you and being the polite human being i was i responded how social etiquette dictates.

"No problem….so, uh, you don't get a lot of visitors to your...club...do you." He shook his head.

"No not many people are interested in it."

"Hmm. Might have something to do with your getup….and the darkness….and...yeah." He shrugged, not looking at me.

"I couldn't change it even if i wanted to. I'm allergic to the sunlight so it would be a problem." My heart pinged almost painfully at the idea of not being able to go out into or see the sunlight, to not be able to feel it's soft warmth radiating down on you, or seeing the light licker and play over the ocean.

"I'm sorry. That sucks dude. I-" I was cut off by the door opening to frame Kyoya in the light.

"Miss Fuyumi, you have guests waiting for you." _ Urgh Kyoya! _

"Fine, fine. I;m coming Ootori hold your horses for a minute will ya?" I could picture his eyebrow going straight up if his cynical response was any clue to how my comment made him feel.

"I have no trouble holding my horses Miss Fuyumi. Unless of course you'd like to prove me wrong on that account as well?" I balefully rolled my eyes muttering not nice things under my breath at him as i stalked through the door, not so softly brushing by him. _Gosh he ticks me off sometimes! _Flicking a glance back over my shoulder i waved back at Nekozawa before Kyoya shut the door behind us both.

"**W**hat do you think of domestic abuse Nala-san?" I raised an eyebrow at Kana's question quizzically.

"Are you asking from experience or just because?" She looked horrified and shook her head waving her hands frantically.

"Oh no no no! Just because! Not from experience!" I pursed my lips thoughtfully. _How to answer this….Wait! Got it!_

"Ladies... no one should put their hands on you. I mean no one. There's a difference in giving a simple 'whooping' or being hit violently out of anger... it's not a mistake when it happens more than once.. it becomes a habit. Some of you may or may not have been abused or you at least knew or knew of someone that was being harmed in their own home or by a partner. The classic excuses 'he said sorry', 'she said she will make it up to me', 'i love them'. Before you love anyone else, please love yourself first."

_Sometimes i wish i had said something years ago.. but i was only a child. I was scared… "_You should have room in your heart for those that actually love you and for yourself. You're worth so much and we start degrading ourselves for that one person. If you know someone is being abused, speak up" .I gave the girls a sad smile. "My biggest problem though is this. This generation doesn't speak up or reach out...we are too afraid or don't believe things will get better. So we think sitting there will make things better? No.. you have to try. Your safety is important. . You're important, and i say this because i care. Do not ever making excuses for them. Someone who loves you wouldn't put you down, hurt you or enjoy seeing you in pain. You need to leave them as soon as you can so you can avoid more hurt, because it only gets worse." Kana and the other girls looked at me tearfully, clutching their hands together over their hearts and one girl began swooning.

"Nalaaaaa-san is so smart!"

"She isn't afraid to speak her mind on these things!"

"Ayyyeee!"

I facepalmed. _Here i am totally serious and i get this? Why do i even….._

"Nala-san….." I turned to face the mousy looking girl who's name i seemed to still be unable to remember. "I...Kana was asking because…." She turned away so i couldn't see her face, and my heart skipped a beat in fear of what her next words would be. "My boyfriend...he started hitting me recently…" The words were the barest whisper of shame and i heard the soft hiccupped sob in her voice. "It's all my fault...i tried to take your advice and stand up tall but he…" Her lip trembled. "Didn't like that…." My pulse skyrocketed and anger filled my veins to the brim.

"Look at me darling." She slowly, hesitantly turned to face me when i gently took her face between my hands. Leaning my forehead against hers i spoke softly. "This is not your fault. The only one at fault here is your damn abuser. He is a no good asshole who can't see the beautiful girl he was blessed with to love him. Darling….don't beat yourself up over it, you are worth the world to so many people. I know i care for you so much, as a friend and even as the club's family. I won't let this continue." She broke down then at my low, whispered words and threw herself into my arms. Over her head i made eye contact with Kana as she teared up while she watched me embrace the sobbing girl. "You did well Kana. I'm proud." I spoke softly, before gently disengaging the girl, i placed her in her friend's arms and stood up.

"Nal-chan where are you going?" I glanced over at Honey's concerned voice, and smiled humorlessly.

"To teach this bastard a lesson." I then sprinted out of the room. _Kana is a genius my gosh. _Puzzle pieces from the last few days began replaying over in my head. Her showing me a picture of the boyfriend, mentioning his name, the sport he played after school, it all led me to where i knew he would be at the moment.

Storming into the guy's locker room, i hollered at the top of my lungs,

"BOTAN AKIHIKO GET YOUR ASS IN FRONT OF ME RIGHT NOW!" The two other boys in the locker room stared at me in horror as i stood there, practically trembling with rage as Botan rounded the corner of a row of lockers.

Tall, with evil looking brownish red eyes, and a mop of unruly, dull black hair with a permanent sneer etched onto his mouth, i wondered what on earth possessed the girl to go out with him. But, pushing those thoughts aside i took a more direct course of action.

"Botan you asshole!" I shrieked and lunged at him, slugging him in the face as hard as humanly possible. I think i busted his nose because he reared back clutching it with a roar of pain. The other two boys bolted from the locker room, presumably to get a teacher, leaving me alone with him. "You hurt her! You hurt your girlfriend! THAT IS NOT HOW IT WORKS YOU ASS! We are put here to be protected and cherished! Never hurt! We were taken by God from the side of a man as his equal, not from under his foot to be walked all over, but from by his heart to be protected, under his arm to be held. You don't fucking mistreat a girl cause you wanna!" My voice dropped to a furious whisper as i snarled my next words. "You don't deserve her you incompetent fool." His hair fell over his eyes so i couldn't see his expression, but what i didn't expect, was the dark laughter that started bubbling up out of him. It made fear flash through me and i took a small step back. Hands raised in fists in front of me protectively.

"Don't deserve her you say?" His head lolled back and i let out a small yelp upon seeing his eyes completely blank, devoid of any and all life. It was like staring into clouded glass.

"B-botan?" _What the hell is this!? _He grinned evilly at me.

"Botan cared for that stupid girl yesssss." The words hissed out of his mouth. "But I did not like that. She was weak, hheee wassss sstrong. It took me weekssss to get even a sssssmall hold on himmm. But now? Noww Botan isss mine!" I took another step back as he advanced, and accidentally knocked over a baseball bat left lying against the locker. _Might want that….this isn't going as expected…._So thinking, i scooped it up.

"What the hell are you talking about? Not Botan? If you're not Botan then who….or what the hell are you!?" The door behind me banged open and Kyoya's voice filled the locker room.

"It's an Amanojaku." _Say what?_

"What the hell Ootori? Where'd you come from? And he's a whoey?" I heard Kyoya sigh and could only imagine him pushing his glasses up in exasperation at my questions.

"If you didn't keep getting into trouble and give me these premonitions i wouldn't be here Miss Fuyumi. As for what that is, it's an oni-like creature. Not directly an Oni but still part of the Waru. They are just a particularly twisted type of youkai, or ghost, who is able to provoke a person and instigate him to do evil deeds. They're often the spirits of contradiction and perversity. And this fellow, has been possessed by one." He sighed heavily again. "And you Nala, have managed to provoke it enough to reveal itself. Honey and Mori will take care of the situation from here, it's their job." Even as he spoke their names there was a soft tug on my jacket and i flicked my gaze down to find Honey there.

"Don't worry Nal-chan. We know what we're doing. Please go out with Kyo-chan until we're done?" I hesitated, but was thoroughly convinced that leaving was the best option when Botan flashed teeth that were suddenly far too sharp to be human teeth.

"Ya know what i like that idea! Let's go Ootori!" And so saying, i thrust the bat into Mor's hands, grabbed Kyoya's hand and zoomed out of the locker room slamming the door shut behind us.

"Honestly Miss Fuyumi. I swear you attract trouble right and left, you're worse than Haruhi." I rolled my eyes, dropping his hand and stepping away.

"Yeah, yeah." Glancing back at the door upon hearing a resounding thud and a cry, i turned back to Kyoya. "Hey….is he gonna be ok…?"

"Who is?" Another glance towards the door from me.

"Botan. He...this...his girlfriend...it's all just insane!" Kyoya sighed at me, _probably lamenting my stupidity._

"He'll be fine Nala. After Honey and Mori are done he will be...strongly convinced that leaving Ouran and his girlfriend is for the best. It's a win win for all parties." I gave him a funky look.

"Hey Ootori?"

"Yes?"

"Did you know that every time you sigh a little bit of happiness escapes?" He blinked at me in confusion.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me the first time buddy." Another thud and i winced. "Moral of the story is that you shouldn't sigh as much."

*Thud*

_Ok i give up this is ridiculous i can't listen to this! _"Alright i'm going back to the host club i can't stand here and not do a thing to help!" Turning i began walking down the hall, before slowing, then pausing. "Ootori?"

"What?" Now he just sounded peeved.

"Hey don't pull that attitude on me! I was just gonna say that i'm sorry about causing trouble for all you guys i...didn't expect him to be possessed and all that crap." Another sigh from behind me. _At this rate i'm going to find myself checking his head for grey hair. Honestly you'd think he had the most ridiculously hard time in the world dealing with me when all i'm doing is trying to help! _

"It's fine Nala. Just head back and take care of your customers. You seem to have a bad habit of leaving them every time something works you up.

"That was one time!"

"It doesn't matter." _WHY IS HE ALWAYS SO CALM AND COOL ABOUT THIS STUFF MY GOSH! _I began walking again, and called over my shoulder rather than stopping again.

"Ya know i see this as the beginning of a wonderful and bright friendship between us one of these days buddy!" Without waiting for a response i dashed off leaving a thoroughly bewildered Kyoya standing by the guy's locker room door.

***Authors Note***

I seem unable to not bring drama into everything gee whiz haha! But yeah working on incorporating more SN stuff. Let me know what you all think plz it means a lot to me to get your reviews and PM's and kinda perks up my day. I'm sorry for being so slow again just...life is falling apart and i find myself unable to get ideas while everything is going on but i'm trying. Everyone who sent me ideas for my writers block problem really helped me out a lot and i find myself getting more inspired these last few days. So thank you all for everything even the small things like the reviews, follows, or favs really makes me happy and i find myself more able to work on this so thank you all and enjoy this new chapter!


	16. Chapter 16

"Now, we are going to take a little journey back to the past." Maria looked entirely serious as we sat across from each other on Haruhi's bedroom floor. Everyone else was out, with Ranka working, and Haru with Tamaki on an 'unofficial' date, which meant the rest of the hosts were stalking them on it.

"You sure this is a good idea?" The girl on the other side of the phone that was on the floor questioned Maria's idea. Maddy didn't seem entirely comfortable with this whole 'let's talk about why we can never see each other again and explain it to someone who wasn't there' thing, but as of yet she hadn't straight up said no to the plan. Maria wanted the details as to what had happened between our parents to cause this and why we had to be separated until we were eighteen so she could see if she could work around it to get Maddy back.

"Uh, Maddy you wanna explain? Or should i?" There was a heavy sigh from Maddy before she spoke.

"I'll explain. Well it started a like this…."

*.*.*.*.*.*

_It was a bright, warm, sunny spring day. A little girl was standing on the porch of a cute little suburban house. She was watching the road with big shining eyes full of joy, and in her hands she clutched a notebook. __** We finished the song mommy. Come home and hear us sing it.**__ What the little girl didn't know though, was that her mother wasn't ever going to get to hear the end of the song. Two other's ran out of the house calling her_

"_Nala! Nala!" She turned to them with a giant smile on her little face. One of the girls was a small brunette with with big doe eyes,_

"_Haruhi!" Nala's smile could have lit the sky in the sun's place with her joy at the sight of the girl. The other little girl had big stormy blue eyes, and dark auburn red hair. She looked so similar to Nala in all other aspects though, that the girls were often mistaken for sisters. Nala turned to the other girl and grinned at her._

"_Is Auntie here yet?" the redhead asked, her blue eyes swimming with hope. "She said she'd come home early since it looked like we'd be finishing it today!" The three girls turned to watch the road in silence. They stood like that for hours, even as the sky grew dark and the hope in the eyes of the cousins dimmed with along with the darkening sky. _

_Suddenly, a distant noise had them jerking their heads up and watching eagerly. Like dogs, bodies poised and still, ears attuned to the sound drawing ever closer, eyes watching the flashing light in the distance grow nearer and nearer. Only one of the little girls knew what that light meant. Fear filled the child and she rushed to the other girls._

"_Nala! Maddy!" She grabbed Nala's hand and tried tugging her inside but the other girl refused to budge. "We need to go inside. Bad things happen in cars with flashing lights." Indeed so. Bad things did happen in the car with the flashing lights, in that car zooming by, Nala and Haruhi's mothers lifeless bodies lay. At the time the ambulance zoomed by they didn't know, but later, when two fathers stumbled into the yard, one crying and sobbing, and the other cold and closed off, all three girls felt horror strike them. Nala's father looked to her cousin Maddy and in a voice so cold that fire could've been frozen he snarled, "This is your fault you little….they wouldn't have been coming home early if you didn't tell them the song would be done wouldn't have crashed!" The horror that struck the hearts of the little girls at his words cut deep._

"_D-d-daddy m-m-momma's dead?" He spun on Nala, and getting in her face he screamed,_

"_YES! Yes she's dead! And it's all her fault!" He pointed at Maddy. "You stay away from my daughter! You two are done! Never let me catch you near her again!" Maddy stumbled back in fright and Nala leapt between her father and the other little girls._

"_Don't talk to Maddy like that! We're friends, and friends don't leave or give up on each other! Ever!"_

"_I don't care. You guys are done. She's the reason my wife is dead." He pushed Nala aside and got up in Maddy's face. "IT'S YOUR FAULT! YOU AND YOUR DAMN MUSIC! First you pull my daughter into it by making her sing your stupid songs, and now my wife is dead because you wanted her to see a song you had finished? You're a little brat you shouldn't even be writing music! You're a failure at it and your songs are pathetic. You think you can do it? Well you can't and because of your stupid failed dream my wife is fucking dead! You little-" Ranka cut him off._

"_That's enough! She's just a child stop talking to her like that!" He pushed Nala's father aside and bent down to pull Maddy into his embrace along with Haruhi. "It's not your fault children. It was an accident nothing more." He tipped Maddy's chin up, and with tears in his eyes smiled down at her. "Don't you stop writing your music Maddy. We all want to hear your dream come to life through Nala. You can do it."_

"_Through Nala?" The words were a growl from behind the group of tearful children and a heartbroken father and widower. "You won't ever use my daughter again you little bitch!" Whipping out his phone he dialed a number, and upon that person picking up he screamed into the phone. "Keep your fucking daughter away from mine or i'm suing for the death of my wife. It's your daughter's fault, and you know i have the contacts to do it to." A moment of silence before, "No. I will and i can. Keep your daughter as far away from mine as possible till she's eighteen or so help me i will drive you into the ground." So saying he snapped the phone shut and dragged his daughter into the house leaving a heartbroken and crushed little red haired child crying on the front porch as she waited for her parents to come pick her up….._

*End of flashback*

"That was the last time we spoke until you came along and got us back together." Maria turned sad eyes on me as i squirmed uncomfortably. I hated that memory, the raw pain in Maddy's vibrant ocean blue eyes as my father dragged me into the house had haunted me for months after. I couldn't even think about the beach without crying, and even up till recently going made me horribly sad.

"That would make sense...It's not like your parents are super well off Maddy...but still...I'm surprised they caved so easily. Obviously there was something he had to hang over their heads that they couldn't let get out. This is ridiculous….well I think as long as we get you here and they don't find out that you," she nodded to me, "Are in contact with me, we can do this." Maddy snorted.

"You think so? Meh. Maybe…Well…..I may be planning a trip out there in a few months for 'business'... I tricked my parents into thinking i'm going to the whatsitmacalled capital place….right! Tokyo! Not Ouran so i'll see you then guys!" I shook my head with a grin.

"You're sneaky Maddy i'll give you that. If you can pull this off though i'll send you home with entire bags of your favorite candy in celebration!"

"And if not?" Maria's question made Maddy and I groan.

"Well we'll have to wait and see if that happens Maria! Right Nala?."

"Mmmhhhmmm."

"Oh! Maria!"

"Yeah Maddy?"

"What's going on with Nala's dad? Anything new happening?" She expelled a deep breath slowly, and as she did so i could sense the tension growing in her. _She sighed..Like i told Ootori, happiness escapes when you do that…._

"Well Maddy, you brought up something i was actually going to talk to Nala about in a bit anyway, but...Wait." She turned to me, "Ok with you if i share?" At my nod, because i was just as eager as Maddy to know, she continued. "Well guys, he's out of the hospital for now and in prison till his hearing next month. After that, if the hearing is in our favor, he'll be in jail for a very long time."

"YEAH!" Maddy began to cheer loudly over the phone. "Take that you sucker! Karma is a bitch _uncle_! Hah! Sucks to be him! Hope he has fun in jail!"

"Maddy!" Maria's voice was stern. "I know you have things to be angry at him for, but he is still Nala's father so be respectful. Got it?" Maria's tone left no room for argument, so a thoroughly subdued Maddy uttered a quiet 'yes'.

"It's fine guys. I know you didn't mean it like that Maddy, and to be honest," I looked up at Maria from where i'd been toying with a hairband on my wrist, "I'm glad he'll be going to jail. I don't want anything to do with him ever again, he's dead to me." Maria's baby blue eyes were soft as she looked over at me.

"I know Nala, i know. That's why i'm doing everything to get him put away along with Officer Tokiya. Being a detective isn't totally about bringing someone down, it's mainly about protecting someone, that someone being you Nala." She stood up and began walking towards the door, ruffling my hair as she went by. "Don't worry you two we'll nail them both. I have to run though duty calls and all that. Bye kiddos!"

"Bye!"

"See ya!"

And that left Maddy and i alone over the phone. Not for long though, because a moment after Maria left, there was a loud thud as the front door swung open and the bickering of the host club followed it a moment later.

"I can't believe you guys would stalk us on our date!"

"Technically, it wasn't 'stalking' we were merely observing since we happened to end up in the same places as you two did."

"Complete coincidence!"

"Oh sure Kyoya. And i know it wasn't coincidence Kaoru and Hikaru! So don't even try that on me."

"We're sorry Haru-chan. Right Takashi?" I sighed heavily, mentally feeling myself deflating into a pancake version of me on the floor.

"I've gotta run Maddy. Haruhi and her man got interrupted on their date by the rest of the hosts so i should probably go out there and stop World War 3 before it starts."

"Oh gosh….yeah good luck Nala! Tell Haru hi for me!"

"Will do! Bye Maddy!"

"Bye Nala!

I hung up, and heading out of the room, managed to grab Tamaki and shove Kyoya out of the way before he dumped a pot of tea on the genius' head. _This is gonna be a lloonngg night oh man. _

_**A_cross the world in America….**

"This is ridiculous!" I threw my phone onto the bed in annoyance before storming out of my bedroom. _I can't even talk to my blasted cousin without getting her and me and everyone involved in trouble! What the hell could Nala's father have over my parent's heads!? They've never done anything wrong! They're middle class, upstanding citizens….Hell the worst, or most annoying thing i can think of them doing, is that they have moved all over the world since i was born before they finally settled down here in the US._ Walking down the hall, i ran down the stairs and out the front door.

_It doesn't matter, _I dropped down onto the grass, and tipped my head back to look up at the bright blue, cloudless sky and pushed my hair out of my face as the wind went up a notch causing the long red locks to cascade around me in a brightly colored, cheerful dance. _Cause i'll be seeing her in two months my parents be damned. _A grin slid over my face, and i snorted.

"Besides," I spoke quietly to myself, "I can finally meet her man, and the rest of the host club to!" A grinned wickedly at that. _You may not know it now Nala, but you're falling for him on the inside. Little itty bits at a time. I give it….oh a month or so before something drastic happens and they become a couple. _I chuckled. _And if not i'm setting you up! _

***Author's note***

Sometimes I stare at the computer screen when the words don't want to come and I think, "Fuck, who am I kidding? This is terrible writing, and this story is shit, and no one cares, anyway." And I close the window and go do something else.

But every now and then I get an amazing, heartfelt, beautiful comment from someone who loved something I wrote, and it reminds me that, at least for that one person, I did write something worthwhile. And so I open the window again and I write one sentence, and then another, and then I start to find my way again.

So on behalf of all fanfic writers everywhere, I want to say thank you, _thank you so much_, to all of the readers who take the time to leave a comment and tell us that something we wrote mattered to you, that it brightened your day or made you laugh or cry or get horny or whatever.

Please don't think we're ever bothered by your comments, or that we don't want to hear it, or that what you have to say isn't important enough. It means so, so much. And on some days, it's what keeps me going.


	17. Chapter 17

"The 1700's called, they want their clothing back." I flicked a look at Ayanokoji as she leaned a hip against my desk, tossing her long hair over her shoulder as she did so.

"Sorry to burst your bubble darling, but the first telephone wasn't invented till 1876 so you're timeline is a bit off there. And since i'm wearing the school uniform today what's that saying about your outfit?" She huffed and walked away to her desk, swinging her hips as she went. All i could do was roll my eyes and try to focus on the teacher as he stepped into the room.

No matter what i did though, my mind was constantly plagued with this feeling that something had happened all day, but for the life of me i couldn't think of what it was. As soon as the bell rang i was gone, like speed of light style i was outta that classroom and up the stairs to the club room. I was making all sorts of noise as my bag whacked against my leg over and over as i ran, but i ignored it.

Slamming through the doors into the room, i shut them loudly behind me, turned, and proceeded to scream at the top of my lungs. A very large, very angry looking tiger was facing me from its position on the lounge across the room. We stood there for a moment, me trying to figure out which pissed off twin it was, while they stared at me like i was their next meal.

"N-not cool du-" I broke off with a scream, hitting hit the deck as it cut me off with a heart stopping roar and leaped off the lounge to race towards me. I swear for a moment my heart stopped, and i blacked out, because the next thing i knew i was being shaken awake while a worried voice called my name.

"I-I'm f-fine." I slowly, ever so slowly, cracked my eyes open to find Kaoru above me,

"Gosh Nala don't do that! You terrified me!" My jaw dropped open and sitting up suddenly, i smacked him on the chest.

"I SCARED YOU!? YOU ASSHOLE I THOUGHT I WAS GONNA DIE! JERK! BAKA! WHERE'S TAMAKI WHEN I FREAKING NEED HIM WITH A BAT!?" Kaoru winced at my yelling, and after a few minutes, i finally shut up. Huffing indignantly, i crossed my arms over my chest and turned my face away.

"Aww Nallllaaa don't be angry!" A hand grasped my chin and i let out a yelp of surprise when Kaoru turned my head to face his. With his face only inches away, the tension in the room skyrocketed, and i began to shift uncomfortably.

"Uh, K-Kaoru…." Kyoya's words came back to me, and i felt the blood rushing to my face as i nearly went cross eyed trying to keep my gaze on Kaoru's nose and just his nose.

*CLICK*

"Got it!" I froze.

"Yes!" Kaoru pulled back, leaving me sitting there on the ground staring up at him as he ran over to his twin, who just so happened to slide out from behind a couch near us with a camera.

"What the hell guys!" _This was just a prank! Why those…..UGH!_ I leapt to my feet, and grabbing a pillow off a chair i chucked it at them, managing to hit Hikaru right in the side of the face.

"OW!"

"Jerk! I know that didn't hurt!" Even as i spoke and called them both names, i couldn't help the grin that was creeping along my face.

*Whack!* I reeled slightly from the force of the pillow as it slammed into my face.

"HAH! Got ya!" I narrowed my eyes evilly and pointed at Kaoru.

"You're gonna pay for that you no good sneaky tiger!" In unison, they stuck their tongues out at me.

"Nyah!" Bending over, i scooped the pillow Kaoru had thrown at me and chucked it right back. Narrowly missing decking him in the face. What happened after that turned into the biggest pillow fight in host club history.

The thing that made it so great, was that as we were in the middle of the war, Tamaki, Haruhi, Honey, and Mori walked in. Tamaki accidentally got hit in the face by one of the twins and instantly joined my side, dragging Haruhi with him. Swearing his revenge against the twins, he proceeded to throw so many pillows at such an immense speed they were just a blur in the air. Honey and Mori got recruited to the twin's side, and to be honest, i'd never have imagined Honey would be so good in a pillow fight. Finally, the enemy side decided that an all out charge was the best idea and we all went one on one pairing off with an attacker. Holding pillows in our hands we just kept swinging. The fight didn't end till Kaoru had me pinned on the ground and was repeatedly thwacking me with the pillow while i laughed so hard i was tearing up, and weakly holding a pillow up to defend my face from his attacks.

"Ok! Ok! I give up! You guys win this round!" Laughing, the rest of the hosts just kinda collapsed where they were standing, and we all broke down laughing.

"Ahem." Someone cleared their throat by the door. Turning in sync, we all found a rather aggravated looking Kyoya at the door, along with a pale, exhaustion and sorrow ridden Detective.

"Maria!" I scrambled to my feet, and sprinted to the door. Gripping her arms i searched her face in fear. "Are you ok? Did you get hurt? Did Tokiya come after you?" She just stared at me for a moment. Her eyes were blank, yet full of horror as she regarded me.

"Na….Nala...we..you're...father...he…" She choked on whatever she was going to say, and my heart stopped.

"Maria, what about my father." The slow rising panic in my body made my voice tremble.

"He's...oh Nala...I'm so sorry…" She broke off again and i suddenly knew what had happened. The feeling in the back of my mind all day, the nagging that something bad had happened, that something had been forgotten, it all became vividly clear.

"He's dead isn't he." It wasn't a question on my part, but she confirmed it with a nod of her head. I heard the rest of the club gasp in horror, but it didn't register. The panic exploded and drained from my body within seconds. Nothing, i was blank, empty, for a minute i felt nothing, it was like being suspended in time and space while those words ran through my head in succession. _Dead….dead….dead….dead….dead, dead, dead, dead, deaddeaddeaddead. _"H-how…?" My voice caught, but didn't break as i asked her. Maria's eyes brimmed with tears.

"Someone snuck by the guard posted at his door at the hospital, he was suffocated, and no one even knew till a real nurse went in later. I'm so sorry Nala. I failed you, I'm," Her voice caught, "I'm so sorry. He's dead and this is my fault. I should have told them to check everyone or..or…"

"No Maria." My voice was strong, and i managed to smile at her, wiping away the tears coming down her cheek. "He's not dead yet. When do you think someone dies? When they are shot through the heart with a gun? When they become ravaged by an incurable disease? When they are suffocated in a hospital? No. It's when they are forgotten that they truly die, and i can guarantee none of us will be forgetting him anytime soon." Maria sniffled, and pulled me into a hug.

"But still Nala. I'm sorry. The death of a parent is never an easy thing, and this...this isn't needed right when you're getting on your feet again." I shrugged my shoulders, and talking into her shirt said,

"I'm relieved. He hasn't been my father for….years. I have no fond memories with him Maria, he was never the one who was there for me. It was always Haru and her father. I won't miss him, this just means i can come live with Haru full time now…." I trailed off, my throat swelling with emotions and beginning to feel raw from holding it all in. Another pair of arms folded around me, and the first few tears slipped. Then another, and another around my waist. Soon all the hosts it seemed had crowded around Maria and i and enfolded us into a hug. Even the twins. Although i think Kyoya only placed a hand on my shoulder rather than getting closer into the hug. _Typical Ootori. _

The thing is, no matter how little they were loved, the death of a parent isn't something that anyone takes well. It didn't matter i wasn't close to the man, or that he'd tried to sell me off. In that moment all i knew was the what if's in our relationship, the vague memories of a warm smile and a hand caressing my hair. Now that he was gone, there was no chance of ever regaining that, and it hurt.

"Men!" Tamaki was the first to pull back, a determined look on his face and in his posture. "It's time to initiate the 'help Nala feel better' plan!"

"Aye aye boss!"

"Good idea Tama-chan!"

"Mm." I couldn't help the smile that slid over my face at Tamaki's words. Pulling away from Maria, i wiped my eyes with my sleeves, and sent a watery smile at the guys and Haru.

"I'm down for that, who votes we go to the beach?" They all cheered.

"Detective," Kyoya stepped over to Maria. "You're more than welcome to join us f you'd like?" She shook her head sadly.

"I can't. Sorry. Due to work i can't just up and leave, especially with this...new development. However," She glanced at him with her eyebrows furrowed. "Can i have a word in private Ootori?" He nodded without even a flicker of surprise on his face, and escorted her to his office.

_I wonder what that's about. I'll ask her later. _

Turning back to my friends, i found them all huddled in a circle discussing something in whispers and giggles.

"Uh, guys?" Tamaki pulled away, whispered something to Haruhi, and shoved her in my direction before the rest of them went back to whispering. When she reached me, i raised an eyebrow. "They sent you over to stall me from hearing their secret plan, didn't they?" She nodded her head while sending an exasperated look at the guys.

"Just go along with it i guess Nals. There's no stopping them once they've started one of their plans." I nodded along with her, watching the boys as they covertly whispered and snuck glances at Haruhi and myself.

_* *Several Hours Later* *_

"You seriously weren't kidding about how fast they work. Hell, if they went into the secret service i'd be scared." Haruhi nodded mutely as we stared across the vast, yet empty tropical beach.

"They own their own beach." I glanced at her as she spoke, only to find her eyes glazed over as she muttered about the amount of crawfish possible to find. I shuddered, those things terrified me. Bugs and i had never gotten along well, and crawfish were just big ocean bugs to me sooo….yeah not a good idea to put me near them.

Shaking myself out of my thoughts about sea life, i left Haruhi standing in her own little world, and began walking down the beach. Tippin my head back, i stared up at the cloudless blue sky and felt the tears fill my eyes. A memory emerged from somewhere deep inside me, and for a moment i was in the past remembering a better time.

* *Flashback* *

_A woman with bright green eyes stared down at me, gently stroking my hair as i sat on her lap. A little girl with soft red hair sat next to us on a small beach blanket to avoid touching the sand she was so afraid of. _

"_Look at the water baby girl, see how the waves play together?" _

"_Mmmhhmm!" In awe i stared out at the blue water with it's bright red algae, "It looks like Maddy-chan!" The little girl next to us flicked big, stormy blue eyes up at me and stuck her tongue out._

"_I'm nothing like the ocean! It's dirty! And smelly!" Sticking my tongue right back out at the girl i opened my mouth to respond when a shadow loomed over us. _

"_Here now! What's my little girl doing arguing over such silly stuff?" I was scooped up into a pair of strong arms and swung around._

"_Daddy!" I squealed in joy at his appearance as my mother laughed softly behind us. _

"_Say little girl want to go for a swim?"_

"_Yes daddy! I love you!"_

"_I love you to baby girl, i love you to."_

_* *Flashback is now over* *_

"Miss Fuyumi?" I snapped out of the happy memory to find Kyoya standing there.

"Oh...hey Ootori, did ya need something?" He frowned at me.

"No, are you ok Miss Fuyumi?" I went to nod my head, but froze when i realized that there were tears coursing down my cheeks, and even as i tried valiantly to make them stop they just came harder.

"You know Ootori," I turned away from him to face the ocean, brushing at the tears coursing down my cheeks. "You have no idea how much i admire you. You're always so cool, and calm, and collected. No matter what insanity the other hosts come up with, you're always prepared and you never let what they do phase you. You're so strong and-" My voice cracked and broke. "I just wish i could borrow some of that from you right now." There was silence behind me, before suddenly, a hand rested on my shoulder and i was turned and pulled into an embrace.

"You don't want to be like me Nala. I'm just trying to act cool. No matter how hard or scary it is." I hugged him harder, my shoulders shaking as i cried into his shoulder silently. Finally, i pulled away, and looking up at him with a sad smile spoke again.

"Remember how i mentioned how i saw us being friends in the future?" At his nod i continued. "Well i know it's probably selfish of me, but i think i'd like that friendship sooner rather than later." He stared at me with an inscrutable look in his eyes, before he nodded his head.

"I do believe i would like that Miss Fuyumi." With a more real smile this time, i held my hand out. When he raised an eyebrow i explained.

"Let's shake on it Ootori." And so we did, and later that night, after a day of host club insanity and shenanigans to help me cheer up, my hand still tingled from the brief contact. Little did i know however, that i wasn't the only one affected.

**Authors note**

Sssooo Kyoya x Nala moments yes or no? To be honest i ship it but hey i'm the author so it's kinda my job. But anyway do you guys think kyoya x Nala? Or Kaoru x Nala? Let me know and i can work with it!


	18. Chapter 18

Waking up to sunshine on my face, and a warm breeze from the open window next to the bed confused me at first. It wasn't till i sat up and looked around that it all came rushing back to me. The news from Maria, the sudden flight to the beach, the moment with Kyoya, and the following antics of the hosts as they tried to cheer me up. With a yawn, i stretched like a cat, and slid out of the bed to pad out of the room to the kitchen of the summer house.

As i stepped into the room, my eyebrows flew up in surprise at finding Kaoru standing by the oven reading over a book of some sort while stirring in a pot.

"Good morning Kao-" He let out an unearthly yelp, and jumped accidentally knocking the pot off the stove spilling oatmeal all over himself, and the floor.

"Shit!" He leapt back from the hot food to avoid being burned, and slammed his hand into the corner of the counter, hard.

"Kaoru! Oh my gosh!" Jumping forward, i ran across the room to where he stood cradling his hand, and scowling at the mess on the floor in front of him. "Are you ok?" Without thought, i took his hand in mine, turning it over so i could see the bruise already forming on it. "What were you doing that made you jump like that?" He frowned at the floor and tried to tug his hand out of mine, but i refused to let go.

"Fine, i was trying to make you breakfast so you could eat in bed." A small smile slid unintentionally over my face, and a soft giggle escaped causing his face to turn bright red. Huffing he tried to yank his hand away from mine again, but i refused to let go.

"Wait I'm sorry i wasn't laughing at you! I couldn't help but smile at the thought of breakfast in bed. I should've had someone warn you guys, but it's been scientifically proven that everything goes horribly wrong for people who try to make me breakfast in bed. Last time it was tried we had to call the fire department and evacuate the apartment building…." He stared at me incredulously for a moment, before moodily muttering,

"Well that would've been nice to know."

With another soft smile, i patted his arm gently.

"You tried your best so thanks for that, but lets get you cleaned up shall we? I'll help you out it's only fair since i'm the reason you messed up." So saying, i escorted him to the sink to wash his hand with cold water. Running his hand under the water, i brushed my fingertips gently around the bruise to clean away residue oatmeal stuck to it. When i glanced at Kaoru i froze though. His head was tilted to the side, eyes closed, a hint of a smile on his face, and i couldn't help but think of how a cat looks when it's being petted after waiting for it for a long time.

Cracking an eye open, his amber gold eye met my own and flushing at being caught staring i looked away quickly, and went back to work. A tension that hadn't been there a moment before filled the air between Kaoru and i as i worked on his hand, and he stood there. It was early enough i didn't think anyone would be up for quite a while, so i wasn't sure how i was going to get out of this easily. Trying my hardest to ignore the conversation Kyoya and i had had that day a while ago proved not to be as easy as i'd hoped. Especially when the object of said conversation was currently right next to you.

"So, um thanks for taking me out here…." He shrugged, and eyes till closed responded almost carelessly.

"It was your idea, we just have the means to fulfill it." I had no idea how to respond to that, so after a few moments of silence, i turned the water off, and stepped away from him.

"Well, err, your hand is good i think. I should really be going though, so, um, yeah-" As i began walking away, Kaoru spun and grabbed my hand pulling me to a halt.

"Wait!" There was a desperation in his voice, a need that made me freeze completely.

"Y-yeah?" A moment of silence before he opened his mouth to say-

"Oy what happened in here?" Looking up, i found Hikaru standing there, his eyes narrowed on Kaoru and i. Yanking my hand from Kaoru's as the awkward tension dissipated in an instant, i all but ran from the room. As i ran i heard Kaoru explaining he'd dropped the breakfast he'd been working on, but i didn't stay to hear the rest. Rather, i booked it outta the summer house down the beach as fast as possible.

_What the hell was that? It was so awkward! He looked so intensely at me, i can't say i liked it. _A pair of dark eyes that stared at me with an equal intensity at times flashed through my mind, and my heart beat a little harder. _Stop it! Why am i thinking of Kyoya right now? Ugh he annoys me so much sometimes! Making stupid accusations like with Kaoru then turning around and comforting me when i'm in pain….Guys are so weird. Hikaru didn't look too thrilled to find me there with Kaoru either. If anything he looked kinda pissed off…._

Halting my run, i glanced back to find quite the distance between the summer house and myself. So relaxing somewhat, i slowed to a steady walk from my previous mad dash. Glancing down the beach, i could see smoke rising in the distance. _What's that? Did something catch on fire? _It took a while for me to reach it, and by the time i did the sun was pretty high in the sky, and i was sweating bullets from the heat and exertion. Let's just blame the heat though.

Upon reaching where the fire was, i was surprised to find a small group of houses that led down a road to what appeared to be a small town. My jaw dropped. _And here i was thinking we were the only people on the island._ Walking down the road, I came to the conclusion that these had to be summer houses of some sort. _ It would make sense. _ I mused as i walked down the street. _This is the Ootori's island they probably rent out these summer houses to rich people to earn a pretty bit of money on the side. _I snorted, something told me that the elegant, well taken care of cabins on either side of the road were the elites definition of roughing it out. And something told me that the inside was not like your typical log cabin.

_Is anyone here? _I was opening my mouth to call out and see if any of the houses were occupied, when there was a crash and a thud from the house i was just going by, and a woman's high pitched, plaintive scream echoed out. Spinning, i dashed to the door and began pounding on it hollering at the top of my lungs.

"Hello?! Are you ok!? Can i come in?!" Rather than receiving an answer, or no answer at all, i was surprised when a middle aged man answered the door with a pleasant smile on his face.

"Can i help you miss?" Confused, i took a small step back from the imposing man now standing in the door.

"Uh, yeah i thought i heard a scream and a crash. I just came to check it out." He smiled again, flashing straight white teeth, but i couldn't help but sense a rising tension in him.

"Oh that was nothing, just my wife dropped a plate on her foot." From my vantage point, i glanced over his shoulder, and was able to see the bottom of the stairs that led up to what i assumed was a loft. Kneeling next to those stairs, was a younger woman maybe only a few years older than myself. She was bent over picking up pieces of a shattered mug or something with shaking hands. It wasn't till she looked up towards the door that my stomach did a flip flop. A darkening bruise was already spreading and leaving its nasty mark over her face, and she appeared to have a split lip.

"You bastard." My voice was a low hiss.

"Excuse me? How dare you! You rude little-" I cut him off with a deadly smile.

"I'm not rude, i just wasn't taught to politely pretend to be nice to people i can't stand. And a wife beating no good asshole is definitely on that list." A glance down to the hand that held the door knob showed a fist with bloody knuckles, and me being me egged him on farther as my emotions spiraled out of control. "What did she do huh? Wound your pride a little? Well let me tell you, hurting people won't help you regain that pride. It only puts it farther out of your reach." Snarling i stepped closer, all of barely over five foot and i was intimidating this big man who was built like a linebacker.

As i stepped forward i snarled, "People like you who abuse the power they were born or put into piss me off more than anything else." My father flashed through my mind and my voice darkened. "There's only so much bullying a person can take or see someone else take, and i'm sick and tired of it." The man finally seemed to realize that he was backing away from some mere highschool chit, so stepping forward, he forced me back.

"You're wrong." His voice was a low, desperate growl. "I'm strong, i'm only looking out for her." Fury made me see red for a second as my jaw clenched so tightly my teeth ground together.

"Real strength isn't like that! The truly strong think of others before themselves. They notice when other people are hurting, they're not the ones who cause the pain, and if so it's never anything like this. You? You are anything but strong." His hand flew up like he was going to hit me as i spoke. My green eyes flashed to his muddy brown ones, and filled with determination, i snapped. "You know i'm right don't you! That's why you're gonna hit me rather than argue. Doesn't that mean i win?" The man stumbled back. He must've seen something in my eyes that scared him, because he couldn't seem to get away from me fast enough as i stepped towards the woman on the ground, as she watched the confrontation.

"W-why did you do that?" Her voice was low, fearful as she looked down at the ground, her long black hair shielding her face. "Why would you protect me?" Kneeling next to her, i placed a gentle hand on her shoulder ignoring how she flinched away.

"Because, I know how you feel. A girl's gotta stand up for another girl right? I don't see why even though i'm a woman i couldn't protect someone else." She peered at me through her hair showing intelligent, sparkling brown eyes.

"Y-yeah i...i agree." Standing up, i extended a hand to her.

"C'mon, i have a friend who's a doctor in training so to speak. He'll patch you up and we can figure this out." Nodding, she hesitantly reached out and took my hand. What we'd both forgotten about in the moment, was that she was still holding glass shards, so when she grasped my hands they cut me.

"Ow!" Jerking my hand back, i shook it in a desperate attempt to alleviate the stinging.

"Oh my gosh i'm sorry!"

"No no it's fine! I shoulda paid attention. Don't worry about it." Sticking my hand out i tried for a small smile. "Let's try this again." This time, i got her up with no difficulty, and turning, i ushered her towards the door. Sending a stinging glance back at the man as he stood on the far side of the room i spoke softly, "Next time you even think of doing this you jerkwad, just remember Nala Fuyumi will come after your no good ass." So saying, i escorted the girl out of the cabin. Once we reached the end of the trail, i kinda just stared down the beach realizing we had to walk the length of the beach to get to the summer house.

With a frown, i turned back to the girl. "Say, you wouldn't happen to have a phone would you?" _Of course this is the one time i wouldn't have it. Ugh. _

"Y-yes." Reaching into the pocket of her skirt, she extracted the cellphone and handed it to me. _Let's see….Haruhi and Tamaki were up late last night doing i don't even want to know what, so it's possible she's still not up since it's not lunch time yet. I don't know Honey or Mori's numbers by heart, i can't call Kaoru after that weirdness this morning….Well guess i know who i'm calling. _I wasn't surprised when he answered on the first ring.

"Hello?" He was using his 'I'm all business right now' voice. Awkwardly rubbing the back of my head with my knuckles so i didn't get blood in my hair, i spoke hesitantly into the phone.

"Uh..hey Ootori, it's Nala.."

"Nala?" His voice was much more relaxed, and worried now. _Weird combination…_ "Where are you? Kaoru said you left in a hurry, but he hasn't seen you for hours. I was preparing to send them out hunting for you." My heart softened as he spoke. _He cared...they all did! _

"Well, um, funny story for you...that's not really that funny...I'll explain when you get here, but could you maybe drive a golf cart to the far side of the beach? It needs to be able to fit two more people along with you."

"Two more?" His voice was suddenly cool.

"Yeah, i..uh...picked up a friend? Look i'll explain when you get here bye!" I hastily hung up, trying to figure out why i was suddenly so flustered. "My friend will be here soon to get us don't worry." I smiled over at her. "Meanwhile want to sit and we can talk over what the hell that was."

We did just that, and i soon found out just exactly who this girl was. Her name i discovered, was Ayumi Cho. She was the daughter of a well to do lawyer, and to further her father's career she'd been married off to his business partner, the man i'd saved her from. Her father didn't know it, but his business partner wasn't the nice mellow guy he'd originally seemed to be. He'd been fine at first, and Ayumi had been in bliss for the first few weeks before things started spiraling out of control.

The actually abuse hadn't started until after the first month of her marriage. She was terrified that if she left her now husband that her father would end up suffering for it, so she'd been trying to ignore the abuse, but she couldn't anymore. I'd actually saved her from a pretty bad fate she told me, because she'd just told her husband she was going to leave him and he hadn't reacted well. Then i'd appeared and saved both of us from him.

"I'll be forever grateful Fuyumi-san." She bowed deeply to me. Waving my hands frantically i shook my head.

"No it's fine! I was just trying to help i did what anyone would've done!" She raised a brow at me.

"Do you honestly think that Fuyumi-san?" Flushing i looked away from her steady, clear gaze.

"Well...i...hope that's what people would do...And please call me Nala not Fuyumi!" Smiling at me, she nodded her head in acknowledgement of my request.

We talked for well over half an hour before either of us realized a golf cart was steadily coming closer to where we were sitting on the sand.

"That looks like it's our ride!" Standing up, i began dramatically waving my arms to get the driver's attention. It probably wasn't needed, but i did it anyway, because ya know why not? As they drew closer, i recognized Kyoya driving, but something in his oh so blank face told me he wasn't happy. It practically radiated off of him. I slowly stopped waving, and slid my bleeding hand behind my back. _He's kinda emitting these 'i'm so super mad' vibes right now…..Does he even realize it? Yeah, yeah he probably does….He knows all, sees all, all that fun stuff._

"Nala." He pulled up next to us, careful to not spray sand all over us. His glasses flashed, hiding his eyes, but i knew what he saw just then. A young woman, with a black eye and a split lip, and me, with a nervous grin, and a bloody shirt from where i'd been trying to stop my hand from bleeding.

"Hey there Kyoya….Uh...nice weather isn't it?" His face didn't change, but his aura darkened considerably. "Right! Getting in the golf cart! You first Ayumi!" With a nod, she slid into the small backseat, before i slid into the spot next to Kyoya.

It was an awkward, silent drive back to the summer house. By the time we reached it, i was coming down off my adrenaline high, and starting to shake. _That could've all gone so very, very wrong, Why don't i bloody consider that before i charge into situations!? _Silently berating myself, Ayumi and myself trailed after Kyoya as he walked, still silently furious, across the lawn to the front door. When it was opened, all the hosts tumbled out around me asking if i was ok, what had happened, etc.

"Guys, guys! Relax! Breath! I'm fine, but," I pulled Ayumi Forward. "Guys this is Ayumi Cho, i, uh, kinda helped her out, and, well…" I trailed off awkwardly, but Ayumi filled the silence, her brown eyes full of awe and respect as she spoke.

"Nala was like an angel! My husband was beating me, and Nala just kinda burst in, took him on, berated him into a complete state of shame, and swept me out of there!" The eyes of all the hosts swept from Ayumi to me in shock and awe. Awkwardly smiling, i shuffled on my feet, trying to ignore Kyoya's sudden, harsh frown.

"It didn't happen quite like that, I was just in the right place at the right time. That's all…" Ayumi shook her head, and launched off into her story. As she spoke however, i snuck past the other hosts, into the house to clean and bandage my hand. I was standing at the kitchen counter, rinsing my hand like i'd been doing to Kaoru earlier in the morning, humming to myself to try and distract myself from the stinging.

"You got hurt."

"Sweet mother of of small children!" I jumped about five feet off the ground in terror at the sudden voice behind me, and spun to face the person only to find none other than the great Ootori himself standing there. "What the hell man!? You just scared the living daylights out of me!" There was no sympathy in his eyes as he surveyed me from where he was standing at the door. Something must've shown on my face, because his troubled expression cleared, and stepping forward, he took my hand in his, and turning it over began to examine the small, shallow cuts covering it. I winced when his fingers brushed over my palm.

"Have they stayed bleeding the entire time?" His voice was so entirely focused and business like. At my nod, another frown slid over his face, and he gently brushed his fingers over the cuts eliciting a hiss from me. "It would appear you have glass caught in the cuts. Here," He sat me in a chair at the table, and went over to a cabinet from which he withdrew a first aid kit. "I'll extract the pieces from your hand, because i doubt you could do it yourself."

Rolling my eyes i stared up at him as he came over, muttering to myself.

"Oh yes, because i am such an incompetent person." The hand around mine tensed briefly, before he dropped it, and glared down at me for real now. _Oh shit i ticked him off. _

**Authors Note**

He he...So far so good? I'm kind of planning on speeding it up a bit from here, i think you guys have enough of Nala's background that i can amp up the romance. You guys ok with that? Also, do you guys want me to bring back the whole thing with her dad soon? Or should i let Nala and the hosts have a few more chapters of normal (ish) host club days before the darker drama comes back? I honestly never thought i would get this far with the story i'm so happy :D thank you all so much for your amazing reviews! Can't wait to hear your thoughts on this and what should happen next! Btw for all those who are rooting for kyoya x Nala be prepared for an intense next chapter! Also! Would someone like to help me out by coming up with ship names for them? I would appreciate it so much! Thanks all and enjoy!


	19. Chapter 19

_I don't understand how it all spiralled out of control so quickly. How did it go so bad so fast?_

Nala was yanked out of her thoughts by a cold drip on the end of her nose, as the water slid off the edge of her umbrella. They were finally holding her father's funeral. It was the stereotypical day for one, with the biting wind, the cold drizzle falling from the grey sky. Nala felt nothing as she watched the pastor perform the ceremony, nothing as they lowered her father's cold, dead body into the ground, nothing as that first shovel of dirt was dropped. She knew the people gathered around her felt nothing either. Well the people who were there for her that is, namely the host club, Ranka-san and Maria. The rest of the attendees were her father's many conquests, and the few 'friends' he had.

A quick glance around her showed them all staring impassively, even Honey stared at the grave coldly, none of his usual cheerful energy around him. The twins glared openly at the casket, as if they wanted to rip into her father, even though he was dead, for what he'd put her through. Rnka, and Haruhi, stared at the casket sadly, but Nala knew their sadness was for old memories long past, of happier times between us all, not for the man who now lay in the chilled, wet ground.

A sadness tightened her chest, and made her heart throb painfully as Nala tried to not focus on the fact that Kyoya hadn't come.

_It doesn't surprise me, not after what happened between us the other day. I'm surprised he didn't boot me right out of the host club for all i said to him. _

Nala was lost in thoughts, not coming back from the memories, until Mori gently nudged her arm. Snapping back to reality, she found the priest frowning at her, calling her name and asking her to deliver the eulogy. She didn't move for a second, before slowly sucking in a deep breath, and putting her umbrella into Haruhi's hand, stepping over next to the grave to stand uncovered under the rain. With a small, sad smile Nala began to talk.

"Hello everyone, thank you for coming today…." However, even as she began to talk, she couldn't drag her mind from the events of a certain day earlier in the week.

* * Flashback * *

Kyoya's dark eyes flashed at her from behind his glasses, and Nala could practically sense the anger radiating off of him.

_Crap he's scary like this! Gotta do something about it…._

"The beach here is really nice don't you think? Nice sand, and the ocean is rreeaalllyy blue. I kinda like how-" Nala was totally aware she was babbling at this point, but something in his expression had her heart tripping over itself in her chest, and her brain functioning process tied up in knots.

"Miss Fuyumi." Kyoya's voice wasn't loud, wasn't full of fury like you'd expect, but the deadly sweet way he said it, along with the way to cheerful smile that showed his teeth as his glasses flashed had her shutting up faster than an angry tone ever would've. Nala was so nervous she didn't even correct him on her name.

"Y-yeah Ootori?"

"Please stop talking for a minute." Wincing, she nodded her head.

_Told you you should've shut up sooner._

Nala mentally berated herself over it.

"Why did you do what you did? It's like you foolishly just put yourself in danger with no thought to your own happiness."

Kyoya had dropped the smile, now his eyes were just cold and impassive. However, his question showed just how little he understood about how i thought. With a smile sigh, Nala answered him, trying to ignore how much it annoyed me that he couldn't understand such a fundamental part of her nature.

"Because, life isn't just doing things for yourself, it's possible that you can live, and help, in a way that will bring other people happiness, which in turn will bring you happiness. Helping people makes me happy Ootori. You can't change that about me, i will help as many people as i can, as often as i can with no thought for how it affects me, because if i can help them, i'm helping herself in turn." His frustration was mounting, Nala could see it in how his eyes darkened as he stared at me, till she couldn't meet his eyes, and had to look away.

"You could've been hurt though. That wouldn't have helped anyone, least of all Ayumi." Again, Nala realized how little he was really thinking this through from her regard.

_It's like he honestly can only look out for himself, is he truly incapable of looking out for others?_

"But no one can predict the future, so it's pointless to fear the unknown when we are the ones shaping it. Sure i could've been hurt, but i wouldn't have known that i wouldn't get hurt if i hadn't gone in there to help her." He merely raised his eyebrows to her comment.

"Have you forgotten her gift then Miss Fuyumi?" Furrowing her brows, she shook her head.

"No, but i'm saying that you only see the 'what if's'. We have the ability to change the futures you see, it's a matter of the choices we make. So no, no one can really, truly predict the future."

"I've never had a prediction come wrong Miss Fuyumi. But that's not the point, _you _keep foolishly throwing yourself in front of danger. You need to look after yourself more often. Otherwise you'll get nowhere in life." Nala's anger was slowly rising to meet his frustration at this point, so she didn't think over her response.

"Clueless people who only think to save themselves will, perhaps unknowingly, set themselves on the path to destruction. It doesn't bloody matter if you think you can predict what will happen or not!" He growled under his breath, his dark eyes narrowing.

"You can't really believe that, only a fool would believe that." Nala snarled right back at him.

"Then i'm a fool, Ootori! Because yeah that's what i believe! With a burning passion. Sometimes," her eyes cut back to glare into his, "Sometimes you have to reject common sense to make the impossible possible. You need to learn how to do this. As well as learning to give to others rather than just take from them. Until you learn that," She shook her head sadly. "Until you learn that, our friendship can't go anywhere."

"What do you mean?" His voice was cool again, all hints of anger gone.

"What i mean is this Kyoya Ootori. You need to damn well get over yourself. You and i? The friendship i want with you? It can't freaking go anywhere till you can get over yourself! Because i can't be friends with someone who's heart is frozen through! You can't feel compassion can you huh? I can't be friends with a damn robot!" Shoving to her feet, Nala placed a hand against his chest, over where his heart was. "I know you have a heart, i know you are flesh and blood just like me, but you are missing an important, life changing ability that makes you human. And that is the ability to care for others, until you can care for others rather than just yourself, you are a self-serving, mindless creature. And eventually? If we were true friends? That would destroy me, because it would suck the care i can give to others right out of me into you. You're like a black hole for compassion. You take it in, but you destroy it, and throw it out somewhere warped and torn." She pulled her hand away, and stepped back from him. "I don't know how you were raised Ootori, but i know that whatever it was the people who raised you did to you, destroyed a crucial part of you deep inside. It kills me to say this, but i cannot fix that for you, as much as i'd like to i don't have the ability."

Nala went to leave, but before she did she spun back.

_I have to try and make him understand how i feel! _

Stepping forward, she pulled him into a hug.

"You, are the most utterly confusing guy i've ever had the pleasure of knowing. I will be your friend, but it cannot deepen into a true friendship until you learn to care." Letting him go and leaving him standing there stiffly she finished speaking with a soft smile up at him. "I really care for the host club, but it pains me that i can't help each of you with the problems you try so hard to hide. It pains me that," her voice broke, and she blinked furiously against the sudden sting of tears. "That i can't help heal all of you. I want to help you Ootori, i care for you, all of you, but until you can find it in yourself to care, i can't do a damn thing." I turned to leave the room. "Think it over Ootori, i don't know how this got twisted into an argument over our friendship, but it did, and i want you to take this into serious consideration. Come to me when you think you can actually show me the real you, somewhere deep inside, who knows how to care. Find him, and we can have a true friendship."

* * End of flashback * *

_I don't know if i can give this. _

Pulse rocketed through her body, hands sweating as Nala felt the dozens of eyes on me as she stood there, For a moment lowering her shields for all the world to see her pain. Nala could sense the panic attack on the edge of her mind, and the worried looks being shot at her from her friends, those she expected, what she didn't expect was someone to step out of nowhere, and join the group of hosts. Not having seen him since the hosts had dropped her back off a Haruhi's, Nala hadn't expected Kyoya to show up for this after all i'd said to him last time, but, in a low voice he murmured to her,

"I had a vision you needed the support."

Shaking her head, Nala turned her eyes back to the small crowd, the sudden confidence that swelled through her had nothing to do with, and she was adamant about this, the certain arrival of a certain host.

"Death is terrible for anyone. Young or old, good or evil, it's all the same. Death is impartial, there is no especially terrible death. That is why death is so fearsome, your deeds, age, personality, wealth, none of it matters. They are all meaningless in the face of death. Each of you here had your own relationship with her Dad, each of you has your own set of memories and your own word picture that describes this man. I don't presume to know the man that you knew. I can't say i loved the man, there was no love lost between us, we never got along, but i would like to thank you all for coming today. It shows me that perhaps, he was a better man than i once thought him to be."

_Pff no he wasn't, you're just saying that to play the nice, good girl daughter. Maybe….but still better than dissing the guy at his funeral. _

She bowed briefly to the people standing there, and stepped back over to her friends as the priest gave his final blessing over the coffin.

"You seemed surprised." Kyoya's voice shook me a bit, and something in her heart loosened up. _I didn't realize i was that upset over what happened…_ Rather than show just how shaken i was by his presence, i snorted, and lightly jostled his arm.

"Surprised? Who gets surprised by the unexpected arrival of someone they thought was never gonna talk to them again." The heavy dose of sarcasm made him roll his eyes, but he whispered back,

"I think we need to talk about it at a later date, when we're both rational." With a small smile at him, and a nod when Nala caught the priest glaring at her, but she whispered back,

"Right, later."

* Kyoya's POV *

"Right, later."

He glanced at the girl next to him, her rain drenched hair clung to her face, and her shoulders, her green eyes glinted with a firmness that surprised him. This girl seemed to be one of the only people who could surprise me, anger me, bring out the emotions he worked so hard to push back.

_Does she even realize what she does? _

He didn't think she did. She slid past people's defenses so easily, with her wide smile, her bright open eyes, she wasn't someone who kept secrets about herself. For others maybe, but never herself.

She had surprised him when she'd shown a real backbone at the beach the other day, as he hadn't thought she had that in her.

_Of course, if she's been through what she's been through it should be taken for granted that she's a lot stronger than she looks._

When he'd first tricked her into the club, he hadn't expected her to be like this, she kept them all on their toes. Another glance over, and Kyoya found Kaoru staring at her.

A strange feeling fluttered in her stomach, but he shoved it back. It bothered him seeing her spending so much time with the twin, talking and laughing in a way she didn't really do with the rest. Blaming it on worry over awkward situations in work relationships, Kyoya turned away.

_But i approve of Tamaki and Haruhi's relationship? _

Arguing that it was different wasn't getting him anywhere, so he shrugged it all off, choosing to lock the emotions down away and to survey them at a later date.

For now, it would seem he had to get Honey away from asking the priest questions about being a guardian, when the priest wasn't actually one like Honey and Mori were, and Tamaki away from the twins he was now chasing with a baseball bat.

_Honestly, where does he even hide that to get it from? _

_** Authors Note **_

_Apologizing for this being short, I'll come back and reedit this chapter in the future, but i wanted to post it so you guys would have something, because i don't know when the next time i'll be able to post will be with me moving, and busy last days of school. Question though! How am i doing with keeping everyone in character? Is it realistic so far? I never realized how hard it would be to capture Kyoya's POV, like that was tricky. It's a lot easier looking at them through Nala's eyes so to speak, and viewing them how she would see them. But so far so good with characterization? Also thank you all for the super amazing reviews! I have plans now that i can work with to make you guys happy :P So trust me your ideas are being considered and i'm trying to figure out how to work them into the plot._


	20. Chapter 20

We never really got back to that talk. Mainly because i got sick.

"You really didn't have to do this guys!" My voice was raspy, and i began coughing after i finished talking, which sent the hosts into a flurry of activity. Kaoru and Hikaru ran to prop me up with pillows, Honey tried force feeding me water and toast, Haruhi was held back by Tamaki to 'avoid infection', and Mori held Honey back from force feeding my poor self while Kyoya merely ignored us all as he worked at Haruhi's desk on his laptop. "Guys, relax. I'll be fine, it's just a cold. Nothing none of us haven't had before." _Well it is for now anyway_

"B-but!" Tamaki began spluttering, and flailing his arms dramatically. "What if it's perhaps an evil spirit from the graveyard who took advantage of your weakened state and forced itself onto you thus bringing this infection into your body!" I rolled my eyes discreetly, but didn't laugh since i knew Tamaki was deadly serious.

"Tamaki, the likelihood of that happening, is about as big as that of having the split mouth woman approach me on the street, or the Aka Manto coming to me in the girl's bathroom in Ouran. Neither of which i count on happening." The guys had all gone quiet as i'd spoken, and Honey now staring at me solemnly, shook his head.

"Be careful Nal-chan. They don't like being spoken of so casually." His big brown eyes were scarily solemn suddenly, and a shiver crawled up my spine. "The Waru can hear you when you talk about them Nal-chan, that's why, even if you don't want to, you need to talk about them with some reverence." The shiver increased, until it felt like cold fingers were running their way up and down my spine, glancing at Haruhi, she just nodded at me confirming what Honey had said. turning my face back to him, i spoke quietly.

"My apologies guys, and anything else listening, i meant no disrespect." The sensation of cold fingers disappeared instantly, which freaked me out even more, but before i could question it, i sneezed. Hard. The hosts were now back in action, hurrying around in their attempts to help me. I shot Haruhi and Kyoya pleading looks, because all i wanted at this point was to sleep, and they seemed like the only two sensible enough to understand that. Haruhi seemed to get the message, because she shooed everyone out, shut the door in their wake, and pulled the blinds in her room. I could hear them outside, whispering and plotting, but choosing to ignore it, i faced Haruhi as she sat down next to me on the edge of the bed.

"Hey Nala."

"Hi Haru!" She smiled at me, and for the first time, i noticed the dark circles under her eyes. "Haru you need some sleep to! You look so tired." She deadpanned, before rolling her eyes in exasperation.

"I know Nala, Tamaki has been...insistent the last few weeks. It's starting to take it's toll i think." I frowned heavily. _I gotta talk to that kid, he doesn't even realize it i bet. _Realizing this was the perfect opportunity to ask her about the hosts, and their gifts, i snatched the opportunity up in the blink of an eye.

"Say Haru, what's Tamaki's gift like to you? Is it like he's just a vampire, and has more speed and strength than the average human, or is there more?" She frowned thoughtfully for a moment before replying.

"Well, it is more than just that. It's like being a vampire makes him desperateto show emotions, when his kind are renowned for being cold and quiet." She stared thoughtfully out into the distance for a second, "Or he's just as much of an idiot as he's always appeared, and just doesn't know it. I'm not sure i can explain it, when i first met him i thought he was a creep, and he did sexually harass me on a few occasions…" _That sounds more like something the twins would do… _"But i kind of came to realize that that is just how he is. He grows on you i guess."

I smiled at that,

"Yeah he does. I guess that- ah ah ahhhCHOOO!" I sneezed so hard and so violently that my head flew back and slammed into the headboard.

"Nala!" Haruhi's voice was horrified, and putting her hand to the back of my head, she withdrew it after a moment. "You're bleeding! You need to be more careful!" She sounded angry, which frankly surprised me, she should know better than anyone it wasn't my fault i was sick.

"Sorry Haru…" Reaching my own hand back, i drew it away to find it sticky with blood. _Which means it's in my hair crap…._ Struggling just a bit, i slid out of the bed. and managed to just barely walk to the door.

The cold had hit hard and fast the night before, which meant it was probably a combined number of health things just hitting me at once. Neither Haruhi or i had been too surprised when i'd started puking last night, because ever since i was little i had been prone to getting nasty colds and infections at odd, unnecessary times. She'd taken one look at me curled up, sweaty and weak, on the bathroom floor, and called the school to let them know neither of us would be coming in. Of course, the hosts all heard about it before first period was even over, and at the end of the school day had rushed to Haruhi's house on Tamaki's command to 'help take care of his poor, sick daughter.

*Eyeroll*

It had been appreciated though, and had made me just a little bit happy to hear Haruhi open the door to them, only to have them all rush to find me. Well except Kyoya and Hikaru. _I swear that child has something against me. _I would find him glaring at me at times, and whenever i was talking to Kaoru, he would come out of nowhere and do something to drag his twin's attention away from me, or the twin himself.

Weakly, i grabbed the door handle, deciding to worry about it another day. For now all i wanted was to get into a shower, wash the blood away from the small cut on the back of my head, and sleep for the next five years. _Screw boys, they can all wait. Not like i really need to worry about Hikaru right now, it'll only make me feel worse. _

"I'll be right back Haruhi, i need a shower i feel gross." Waving off her question over if i needed help, i told her i'd be fine, and slowly, hand on the wall the entire time, made my way to the bathroom. The shower felt amazing, in fact it was a little too good on my tired body, and i dozed off sitting down on the shower floor. I jerked awake to the gut feeling we all knew, and managed to find some small sudden burst of energy to throw myself out of the shower to get to the toilet where i proceeded to puke my guts up. I was so sick it burned up and out my nose, and brought tears to my eyes. Gasping for air, i leaned back against the wall ignoring how i was dripping wet, and dragged a towel around my body. There was a knock at the door.

"Nala?" Kyoya's calm voice soothed my mind,_ if only it could do the same to my body. _"Are you ok? We thought we heard something, so Tamaki sent me to check on you." I was too weak at the moment to speak, but i managed to let out a broken, barely there 'no' in answer to his question. "Nala can i come in?" His voice was just as cool as always, nothing hinting what he was thinking, but i knew if i didn't open the door, he'd probably have someone knock it in. Crawling, i made it to the door, and slid my hand up to undo the lock. It took all the energy i had, but i made sure to pull the towel tighter over my body, and to shove back closer to the toilet.

"Come in." My voice was a raw whisper, but he heard it and entered the bathroom. When he came in, he let in the smell of food that was being cooked, and it set my stomach off again, so vaulting up, i collapsed in front of the toilet and began dry heaving violently. The dry heaving was punctuated by involuntary sobs from the pain my body was in. By the time i stopped, i became aware of someone gently rubbing my back, and holding my hair out of my face.

"Gomen Ootori. I know this is definitely not your first choice of things to do with me." I could almost sense his shrug.

"It's fine. Besides if you don't get better, host club profits will drop again." Cue another eyeroll from me. Before i could respond to that, the bathroom door burst open, and Kaoru ran in.

"You ok Nala?! We heard a thud after Kyoya came to check on you so i came to see...what..happened..?" He trailed off in a mix of shock and confusion when he saw the scene in front of him. Something happened in that split second, a tension filled the air between the three of us. It was broken a moment later, when Kyoya abruptly released my hair and pulled away from me, coldly saying.

"Here, you take care of her." Kaoru's response was equally frosty.

"Fine." They brushed by each other, trading places with Kaoru holding my hair for me and gently placing a hand on my shoulder as Kyoya walked off down the hall.

"Thanks Kaoru," I shakily sat up and gently pushed his hands away. "But i'll be fine. Why not you go so i can get dressed and all that, ok?" He stiffened, and something _angry? _flashed in his eyes before he nodded, and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

_That was...strange._ Sighing, i took deep breathes until my stomach relaxed enough for me to stand, and slowly get dressed. _I don't get it, they've seemed fine, but then all the sudden when it's just us it's weirdly tense? _I stared at my pale face in the mirror for a moment, before shrugging at my reflection and opening the bathroom door to leave. _Well, maybe Kaoru pranked Kyoya or something? I dunno, if something happens to make it my problem i'll break it up, but for now it's probably best to just let them be. _With a decisive nod, i headed down the hall back to my bed.

* A few hours of sleep later *

Sleep, and soup, do wonderful things. A nap for a few hours, and some of Haruhi's homemade soup had me feeling much better. No more queasy stomach, no more stuffy nose, no more hosts in the house. They'd all left while i'd been sleeping, or more aptly, Haruhi had kicked them out for being noisy and waking me up from my much needed sleep. A buzz on the nightstand next to my bed announced a new text from someone. When i checked it, it made me smile.

**Maddy -**

**Just in case you need to hear this today: you are not a failure, you are not a waste of space, you are loved, you are wanted, I believe in you, you can do it! Haruhi texted me and let me know you were sick, just wanted to let you know i'm keeping you in mind, and hope you feel better!**

The grin that stretched across my face made my cheeks ache, but i ignored it and continued grinning as i replied.

**-Thanks Maddy :) I needed to hear that. Today has been weird to say the least….**

**-Oh? What happened? **_How to answer that…_

**-Well you see, I got sick in the shower and had to jump out to puke, then Kyoya came in, (He's one of the hosts, i think i've mentioned him before.) and he was helping hold my hair back while i puked, then all the sudden Kaoru (Another one of the hosts, I know i've mentioned this one. He's the twin who does the weird 'brotherly love' thing.) came in and seemed all weirded out to see Kyoya holding my hair back before he left the room. **

_And sent. _Maddy didn't reply for a few minutes, but when she did, her answer didn't surprise me. She had always been one to get over dramatic while texting. Personally, i think she just likes to hit capslock.

**-Yeah you've mentioned them all. AND PLEASE TELL ME YOU WEREN'T NAKED OH SWEET MOTHER OF PEARL NO WONDER KYOYA WANTED TO HELP YOU AND KAORU GAVE YOU GUYS A WEIRD LOOK!**

**-Holy crap no! Not naked at all! I grabbed a towel and had it wrapped around my body before anyone came in! **

**-Thank goodness. Geez dude you had me really scared there for a minute! Don't do that man! **

I laughed. I could picture her face while she sent this. Her blue eyes would've been wide with excitement and horror, and she would've been shaking her head in disbelief. A moment later another message came in from her.

**-Gotta run Nals, parental units are summoning me ugh. I'm excited for my trip to see you next month, call me later! **

I read it, before putting my phone away. On a phone call a few days before, Maddy had mentioned that whenever she said bye, that neither Haruhi or I should text back. Because if we did her parents might see it after she had deleted the conversation, and become curious. Which in turn, would ruin our plans. Excitement flitted through me as i thought over the fact that in just over a month, i'd be seeing someone who was practically my other half, maybe not in blood, but in spirit. _Gah i've missed her. I should probably start planning what we do while she's here for the summer, that way we won't have a dull moment. _A thud and an argument breaking out from the front door between Haruhi and someone else announced the re-arrival of the host club, and another smile flitted across my face. _Of course, it's not like there's ever a dull moment as it is. _

* * Authors Note* *

Hey everyone! So ok, i never expected my story to get so many follows, favs, and reviews. Honestly, it has made my life so much better. If this means anything to you guys, but the other day i was having an awful day, it felt like my life was falling apart, and i was on the verge of just running and never stopping, when i got a PM from abitofananimenerd reviewing my story, and it was so sweet and nice that it made me cry. You all have no idea how much i value you guys, and your enjoyment of what i write. I do however have news, my next post will be an author's note of somewhat great importance, so for all those who follow and read this story, you'll want to read that. BUT DON'T WORRY I'M NOT ENDING THE STORY! It's nothing like that at all! Until next time my lovely readers, please enjoy! And let me know what you all think of the new chapter :) My timeline is slowly starting to shrink in the story towards the end and subsequent sequel, so what occurs in the next few chapters will be leading to the climax, so look out for the hints! Also, are you guys ok with me doing a sequel rather than making it one whole story?


	21. Chapter 21

I woke up to a strange feeling crawling up my spine. Sitting up slowly, i opened my eyes and yawned widely. A quick glance around the room, showed it empty, but there was a note on the desk bearing my name. Slipping out of bed i padded across the room and picked it up.

Nala -

I headed to school today since your fever broke last night. Dad is still on his business trip, so you'll have the house to yourself for the day. Drink some water, there's homemade pancakes in the fridge along with orange juice. Try to sleep some more to, you could use it you lost a lot of weight the past day. I'll be home to cook dinner after club hours, and be careful, there was something just not right in the air this morning, but that may have just been me.

-Haruhi

_So..._I mused. _I'm not the only one who noticed it…_ A glance out the window revealed a cloudless blue sky, and no breeze rustling the tree branches. _Maybe i'll take a walk around the block to clear my head, it's probably the result of being cooped up inside for the last day. She and i were going stir crazy. _Nodding decisively, i tried to push the slight sensation of fear out of my mind, but it didn't work. I hadn't survived for 16 years by ignoring my gut feelings. And right now, they were telling me to be very careful and wary of my surroundings.

Stepping out of the bedroom, i walked down the hall to the kitchen and prepared my breakfast. The cold had hit hard and fast, but passed just as quickly like they were wont to do. It took all of five minutes of sitting there to realize there was no way i'd survive the day by myself without dying of boredom, and the aggravating gut feeling that something wasn't right. So hurrying back to the bedroom, i shrugged into the uniform, grabbed my book bag, and left for school locking up the apartment behind me.

I arrived at the school around lunch time, so rather than worrying over lunch since i'd eaten barely twenty minutes before, i went straight to the classroom to inform the teacher i'd be staying for school, and to apologize for my absence. He was very understanding, and totally ok with it before he told me to take a seat, or to go eat lunch before he left the room to do so himself. I chose to take a seat, and was getting my notebook out of my bag, when the classroom door opened and a haughty voice exclaimed.

"Oh look, _it's _back." _It's? Hah, very funny. _ I purposefully kept my eyes on my notebook as i casually responded to the barb.

"Have you been shopping lately Ayanokoji? I heard they were selling personalities at the mall, you should go get one." I practically felt her pull herself up bristling angrily.

"No one asked for your opinion, failure."

"Yeah? And no one asked for your life story." She gasped.

"How dare you! You better be careful, i can have you kicked out of this school at the snap of my fingers! I have the contacts to do it, or even better, i could make you disappear!" I sighed in annoyance, and straightened to face her. My green eyes lit with annoyance, and a sneer curling my lip.

"Only a coward has others do their dirty work. Back off Ayanokoji, i'm not in the mood today for you." She and her minions stalked closer, and one of them, a tall narrow eyed girl who's hair was cut in an unattractive bob, snipped as she picked at the sleeve of my dress in a high pitched whiny voice,

"Why do you even wear a bra? You have nothing to put in it." _Gah time to pull out the sex jokes i guess. _So being me, i replied.

"Well, you wear pants don't you?" It took a moment for the comment to register, but when it did she yanked her hand back with an indignant gasp.

"Fuck you!" Her lips twisted awkwardly as she said the word, like it wasn't one that often came out of her wellbred mouth.

"No thanks i don't want herpes." She stormed off to her friend's side growling insults at me under her breath. This seemed to be the cue for the next one of Ayanokoji's minions to try their luck against me. A short, round girl, with squinty eyes, and unruly curls sidled up to my desk.

"You're ugly you have no right to talk to a beauty like Cho-san like that." I stared up at her in boredom.

"See honey the difference is this, i can get plastic surgery like the rest of you to fix my ugliness. She on the other hand, can't do anything to fix her stupidity." After a moment when the girl couldn't seem to find anything to say in response to that i decided to end it with her. "Look i have no problems with you. My problem is with your ringleader, so go away." She opened and shut her mouth for a moment, before ducking her head and shuffling back to the others. Ayanokoji was dripping with rage at this point. So, flicking a look at her i asked, "Who peed in your cheerios this morning?" She snarled angrily and stalked over to me grabbing my hair, and yanking my head back.

"Look you bitch-"

"If i wanted a bitch i'd have gotten a dog," She ignored my interruption, and continued anyway

"Watch your back. If you don't," She gave me a sickly sweet smile. "You won't be able to live to regret it." So saying, she dropped my hair making my head snap forward as the classroom door slid open and Haruhi's voice entered.

"Nala? Why are you here? I thought you were going to stay at home today. Oh, hello Seika-san." Ayanokoji and her minions sniffed and breezed by Haruhi out of the room. Rubbing my now aching scalp i glard at the girl as she left the room. _What a little-_ "Nala? Nala are you listening?" I dragged myself out of my thoughts and grinned at Haruhi.

"Yeah Haru i'm listening. Say let's meet later during club hours, i have to talk to all you guys about something." As i spoke a bell rang announcing lunch was over, and with a nod Haruhi left the room to go to her classroom.

* Later on in life *

I stared at the stairs in annoyance. _There;s no way i can make it up them in this condition. _I was physically exhausted, the day had drained me completely, and now i was facing the struggle that was several flights of stairs. I was so tired that the annoyance inside me came out in tears, and shoulders slumping, i took a shaky first step up.

"Hello Nal-chan!" Freezing at the sound of the perky voice, i turned slightly to find Honey and Mori standing there.

"Oh! Hi guys!" _Come to think of it...i never really talk to them...damn i need to they're both my senpai's so i probably should more than i do. _That in mind i nodded to them respectfully. "You guys headed up to the club?"

"Yep!" Honey beamed at me from his place on Mori's shoulders. "Say Nal-chan," He lost the smile and cocked his head at me with a worried frown. "Should you be up so soon? You were really sick just yesterday!" I gave him a tired smile. Even as Mori made a noise of agreement.

"I'll be fine guys thanks though for worrying! I'm honestly more worried about these stairs being the death of me than that cold." Turning back i scowled at said stairs. "So i guess i'll meet you guys at the top?"

"Wait Nal-chan! Takashi!"

"Mn." A moment after they spoke, a pair of arms slipped around my waist and hoisted me up bridal style into a pair of strong arms.

"Oof!" Glancing up i stared in shock at Mori. "Uh, Mori-senpai…?" Honey answered for him.

"Takashi is gonna carry you because you're so tired! You're our friend Nal-chan so it's not a problem!" I grinned at him.

"Well i won't complain if your not." Turning my head to stare up at Mori, i sent him a smile to. "Thanks Mori! You're the best!" He merely nodded his head.

"Mn." I sweatdropped, while still grinning. _Is that all he says to everyone who's not Honey-senpai?_

We reached the top not son after, with Mori carrying me, and Honey skipping on ahead, occasionally stopping to run back to us to chatter on to Mori or I about something that happened to him. _Gosh he's a cutie pie. Hard to think he's my senpai and not in grade school at times like this. _

"Don't you agree Nal-chan?" Honey's question of my opinion dragged me from my thoughts, and with a rueful grin i looked down at him.

"Sorry Honey-kun, what was it you were asking? I zoned out for a minute there." He waved it off like it was no big deal and repeated the question.

"Don't you agree vanilla cake is as good as chocolate? But i like both...especially when they put strawberries on them! I love strawberries Nal-chan! How 'bout you?" I grinned at his exuberance over cake, before frowning thoughtfully.

"I dunno Honey...I like chocolate better than vanilla, but you're right they're both good! And it's a no for me when it comes to strawberries, I'm allergic to them so i can't eat them." He stared up at me in thought for a moment, before smiling widely.

"Well if you like cake we should eat cake together sometime! Do you want to Nal-chan?" His eagerness was irresistible, and i found myself unable to say no. When he received my consent, i thought he would do a backflip from pure joy, but instead he proceeded to skip in circles around us till we finally reached the host club. Setting me down, Mori straightened back up and was about to step away. before i shouted,

"Wait!" He paused and turned back to me. Bowing, i spoke hurriedly. "Thank you Mori-senpai!" Straightening, i dashed past him into the club room whistling happily leaving behind a very confused, silent male.

I made it all of two steps into the club room, before suddenly, a twin appeared on either side of me and grabbed onto my arms.

"Hey what're you-OI!" I tried to yank myself out of their arms as suddenly a black bag was thrown over my head preventing me from seeing. "What the heck guys!? Let me go!"

"No can do Nallaa." They replied in a singsong way. "We have orders straight from the boss and the shadow king to take you to the car."

"Honey! Mori!" I tried hollering for them, but all one of the twins did was make a tutting noise and question mockingly.

"Honestly did you think that would work Nal-chan? They were in on it the whole time." _Grrrr the people in this club!_

I was dragged all the way back downstairs, out of the school, and into a waiting limo, before the bag was ripped off my head. At this point i was fuming.

"What the hell is this!?" Turning in shock, i found Haruhi next to me on the seat in an equal state of annoyance at the club members. Tamaki merely chuckled and beamed at us.

"You will see my poor, deprived daughters. You will see."

"We're not that poor."

"Or deprived…" Haruhi and i spoke at the same time, before glancing at each other in hopes one of us had a clue as to what was going on. Neither of us did, and we lapsed into silence assuming that we'd discover what this crazy plan of the host club was sooner or later.

I wasn't sure about Haruhi, but since this was really the first time i'd been caught up in the hosts craziness, i was both a little excited, and a bit terrified. After what was probably an hour and a half drive, the car slowly ground to a halt, and the door was flung open to us. What it revealed had both Haruhi and i sweat dropping. It seemed we'd been brought to some form of tropical resort, tall palm trees and plant life stretched out along a beach of some sort, while ponds and wade pools covered the area we could see just then.

"Uh…"

"What is this?" Haruhi and i were starting to sound like the twins, but we both wanted answers pretty badly. "This is japan? There aren't supposed to be any tropics here…" Haruhi trailed off, and while she was stared off into the trees around the pavillion area, Tamaki appeared out of nowhere behind her, and resting at arm around her shoulders pointed.

"Look Haruhi, there are birds from the south tropics here." He began sparkling at this point. "Pretty aren't they? I wonder what they're called... "

"Where's the exit again?" Tamaki totally ignored her question, somehow suddenly no longer next to her he was relaxing in the shade of a sun umbrella with a drink and in a swimsuit.

"Time like this is important to us to just relax so we can refine and take care of our around the clock beauty." Haruhi and i shared equally unimpressed glances.

"Look Tamaki...Neither of us signed up, or really care for these kinds of pointless activities. Can we just go already? And also since you're all vampy shouldn't you, i dunno, not be in the sun!?" Before he could respond to me, Haruhi spoke.

"Besides senpai. I have to study, and do laundry today. Where is this place anyway?" As he opened his mouth to speak, i glanced around just noticing all the other hosts seemed to be gone. _Where'd they go…? I hope they didn't get like eaten by a crocodile or anything… _However, someone began speaking before i could ask.

"This is a theme park owned by the Ootori group." I nearly jumped out of my skin and spun to face Kyoya sitting on a nearby chair under a sun umbrella.

"Gah Ootori! When did you get there!? You weren't there a second ago!" He ignored my question, merely raising an eyebrow as if chastising me on my lack of awareness , before responding to Haruhi's question about how she thought they only ran a hospital.

"Well, it's a diversified enterprise that does a lot of different things. But, you could say this is related to therapy." _Therapy my ass. Damn rich people. _"The Ootori group is always thinking of the happiness of others."

"That sounds relentlessly shady…" I seconded Haruhi's thoughts.

"I bet the Yakuza say the same thing…." When he explained that it hadn't been opened to the public yet, but that we'd reserved it privately for the day, i began to get an odd niggling feeling. When i turned to face the water, _well gee golly. _ You'd never guess who popped up outta nowhere all wearing swimsuits and goofing off in a small wade pool. That's right, the rest of the hosts. _It is beyond freaky how they can all do that. _

"Haru-chan! Nal-chan!" Honey's happy voice was suddenly next to us as he began bouncing around. "Want some coconut juice? Or mango cake?" He was all but radiating hearts and happiness. _uhhh what? _

"Um, sure the coconut juice for me." He looked at me expectantly, but i shook my head.

"Nothing for me right now thanks though Honey!"

"Haiiii!" He dashed off to get Haruhi's drink. _That was...weird…._ Glancing around, I found Mori over at another wade pool staring off over the water. Before i could go over to talk to him though, the twins appeared next to us.

"Oi! Haruhi! Wanna go down the waterslide?" Before she could even answer, Kaoru blinked and spoke.

"What's up with your getup?" Blinking, Haruhi and i looked down at our outfits. She was wearing a simple sweatshirt and shorts, while i was still in the disgusting yellow uniform not having had a chance to change when we arrived.

"Ahh..this?" She seemed lost in thought for a moment, before shrugging casually. Hikaru chucked away the peel of a bana he'd been eating, and exclaimed.

"So you're not going swimming? By any chance, can you even swim?" Haruhi scowled at them slightly, but said,

"I think i can swim as well as the next guy, but i'm just not very interested in this place. And i'd rather go home and study than be here in this place goofing around." Hikaru didn't get a chance to reply to that, because Kaoru turned to me and asked,

"Why are you wearing the uniform still?" Sweatdropping, i backed away a little.

"Uh, well, um, you see….I didn't bring a swimsuit to school because i wasn't planning on getting abducted to a tropical waterpark!" I ended up glaring at them, but they didn't seem fazed. Rather, they grinned at each other evilly.

"We can fix that." _Something tells me we have very different opinions of 'fix'._

I was right, because minutes later i found myself locked into the women's changing room with two identical twin maids who were trying to force me into a swimsuit. I could hear the twins outside chuckling at me, but at the moment i was too distracted by the knotted strings the maids were holding towards me, for me to yell at them.

"Uh...what is that?"

"A swimsuit of course."

"Um, i'm sorry i'm just not seeing it. It kinda looks like knotted strings, not exactly the sturdiest suit ever…." They were starting to circle me like sharks. "Uh, what's with those looks." Their eyes flashed creepily.

"We need to get you out of that uniform so you can try these on."

"Oh, well if that's the case i can just change-OI DON'T STRIP ME YOURSELVES YOU CREEPS GOSH DARN IT GIVE ME MY BRA BACK! THIS IS SEXUAL HARASSMENT!" The snickering outside turned into full blown laughter at that. "SHUT UP YOU SHADY TWINS! OR SO HELP ME I'LL SET TAMAKI AND HIS BASEBALL BAT ON YOU!" The snickering stopped to an extent, but by this point i was shoved into a suit and tossed out of the changing room by the maids. A quick glance at myself showed a semi decent suit covering me. It was a soft cotton candy pink, with a regular bikini bottom and top that were connected through a series of strings down the front. _Well, it is cute...even if the method of being put into it was less than enjoyable._

Looking around revealed the twins to be gone, so i made the short walk back to the wade pool alone, only to find Haruhi watching the twins and Tamaki in annoyance as they sat whispering about how what she thought was a pool was a pool even if they didn't think it was one. I got there in time to hear Tamaki whisper,

"She only has a pitiful commoners knowledge!"

"But a boat is a boat!" Turning to her i raised an eyebrow.

"They had no idea what you were talking about when you told them about what you think of vinyl pools did they?" She frowned at them heavily before turning to me with an annoyed aura saying,

"I'm beginning to feel incredibly unpleasant for some reason." I patted her shoulder sympathetically.

"Gomen Haru. I feel your pain, but cheer up we'll be out of here soon, what's the worst that could happen?" Even as i spoke, a shadow began to overtake Tamaki and us. With a startled look, we turned to fine the twins shadows growing and covering a whimpering Tamaki as they whispered together. "Or...I spoke to soon my bad."

"Y-you idiots! Tamaki leapt out of their shadows. "It is only natural as her guardian to do so! Besides! Even wearing a swimsuit it is not right for a girl to expose so much skin to boys around her!"

"Oh," i whispered to Haruhi. "He's having weird fantasies about you again i get it." She began giving him the most blank death stare ever known to terrorize mankind causing him to freeze where he stood.

"Haru-chan!" Honey was suddenly at her side with her drink tugging at her arm. "Let's go play! They have a current pool right over there!"

"No thank you Honey senpai. I'm not going to swim today, wait a minute...do you even know how to swim?" He nodded up at her happily, eyes open wide and innocently.

"Mmmmhhhmm! Just looks cuter this way." He wiggled a little making the tub around his waist slide a bit before dancing off to the current pool.

"Ahh i see, because of the bunny design." Haruhi nodded sagely, but suddenly the ground started to shake. _WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?_ And a voice came out of nowhere.

"Tepid! Quite tepid!"

"Haru!?" I turned to her my eyes wide with a mix of fear and shock. She just whispered.

"Remember that girl i told you about? Renge-san? This is her."

"Oh…" I trailed off as a girl appeared out of the ground and began ranting about cosplay and Honey… "I think i'll leave you guys to it with her, and go play with Honey in the current pool…" So saying, i turned and jogged to the pool, splashing over to Honey. "Honey-kun!" He grinned over at me.

"Hi Nal-chan!" His smile was all hearts and sparkles practically blinding me.

"Whoa there senpai! Tone down on the cuteness factor before i lose all my senses!" He stared at me for a moment before…..

"You think i'm cute?"

"Of course i do!" He seemed to relax a fraction when i said that. _There's obviously a story behind that, i'll ask Haru later. _We splashed around in the current pool for a while, even joined by Mori for a bit as he swam and we sat on his back to see if we'd go anywhere. We didn't. _The current in this pool is a bit scary it's so strong to be honest...I may mention that to Ootori later and see if it's a problem at all. _

A glance onto dryland showed Tamaki slipping on the banana peel Hikaru had chucked aside earlier, and slide straight into a Tiki statue losing his water gun in the process. The eyes on the statue all started glowing, and holding onto Honey's bunny tube with one hand, i pointed with the other.

"Senpai look! The eyes on the statue are glowing!" He spun around to look with a small laugh, but suddenly, there was a ferocious rumbling noise. Spinning to face the other way, i let out a scream at the giant tidal wave bearing down on us. "HONEY WATCH OUT!" I threw my arms around him so we'd stay together, before the wave crashed into us, sweeping us both under. We were being swept along violently, and suddenly, i slammed into the side of the current pool banging my head hard in the process. Everything went dark, as my hold on Honey loosened.

* *Author's note* *

So thanks to a wonderful review i got! It has been brought to my attention that the bonds between characters need some work, so i may work on that for the next few chapters and use actual episodes to help build character bonds before i bring the climax around. Sound good to all you guys? Also, if i'm using actual episodes, it means i'll be able to update faster since i won't have to worry quite so much about making all my own dialogue and chapter ideas. Did i do an ok job of representing the episode and all that through Nala's POV? Enjoy the chapter everyone! I'll try to have the next one up within a few days.


	22. Chapter 22

I woke up coughing up water, while someone with a sledgehammer was slamming away somewhere inside my skull like he was trying to break free, while a weight pinned my legs to the ground. Groaning, i sat up slowly, clutching my head with my hand as i did so. _What happened...oh..right…_ The current pool, the tidal wave, slamming my head into the side of said current pool, it all came back to me, and jerking my head around to look for Honey, I almost passed out again as the throbbing in my skull grew from a muted roar to the mental forest in my head was just flattened roar.

"Honey…" It was a low moan, and i received no response. "Honey!?" A little louder, a little more panicked. "Where are you senpai!?" A much slower glance around revealed the weight on my legs to be a sleeping Honey. _Thank goodness he's alright. _A smiled weakly, a hand still clutching my head, i gently shook his shoulder. "Honey? Honey wake up buddy, Mori and the rest are probably worried for us by now." He didn't stir, so i shook his shoulder a little harder. "Honey-kun wake up!" Still nothing. _Time to resort to drastic measures. _Deepening my voice as much as i could, i called out, "Mitsukuni!" It had the desired effect, as Honey stirred just a little bit, sleepily murmuring,

"Takashi?" I smiled softly and gently ruffled his hair.

"No buddy i'm sorry. You needa wake up Honey. I think i may have a concussion, and i'm not making it far, or going anywhere without you." He stirred a little more, but something didn't seem right. His aura was dark, angry, and he was in an almost dazed dreamlike state. _Crap. He's like Maddy always was in the morning, i needa wake him up gently._ However, even as i thought that, i couldn't think of an easy way to do it. _Gosh darn it all. _I gently shook his shoulder. "Honey, look at me buddy. Don't do anything stupid, it's me, Nala? Nal-chan? C'mon man i know you're in there somewhere under all the sleepiness." He stirred a little bit more, blinking hazy, cold, angry eyes at me for a moment. Fear flashed through me, because in those cold brown eyes, i saw no recognition. Just cold anger. It was gone in an instant though, when he seemed to snap out of the sleep induced haze, and yawing widely murmured,

"Nal-chan?" I let out an audible sigh of relief.

"Yeah Honey it's me, can you get up? I can't feel my legs." He sat up, and moving up so he was kneeling next to my head rather than my legs, he gently ran his fingers over the side of my head. It stung like a bitch, and i whimpered slightly.

"Nal-chan i'm a little worried. You're head is still bleeding, and you were unconscious for at least twenty minutes after i pulled you out of the water." I blinked at him to clear the sudden hze from my eyes.

"Thanks Honey for saving me. I'm sorry i'm inconveniencing you. I think i may have a concussion, so i don't think i'll be getting far without you right now." He nodded, his big brown eyes worried. "Let's see if we can at least get to a path to wait for the rest of the club. It'll make it marginally easier for them to find us." So saying, i went to stand up. I made it to my feet, but as i tried to take a step forward, the world pitched and spun violently making my feet collapse under me.

"Nala!" Honey caught me as i fell, and gently laid me down. When the world finally stopped spinning, i smiled weakly at him.

"Or we can always wait here and hope they find us soon. Sorry Honey." He shook his head at me, reassuring me it was no big deal. After a few moments of silence, i began to feel sleepy again. I hadn't even realized my eyes were drifting shut until Honey shook my shoulder.

"Don't fall asleep Nal-chan. You need to stay awake till we can get you to a doctor."

"Right, i know, i just...i'm really tired Honey-kun." He stared down at me with a worried frown on his cute little face. "Hey now, you're the boy lolita, don't go looking like that, c'mon give me a smile. Talk to me, keep me awake. What made you want to become a host?" He seemed to think about it for a minute, before a smile lit his face up.

"I think the best feeling is when you make someone that you like a lot laugh, and their face lights up, and they start giggling, and you're really happy that you were able to make someone so beautiful smile so much. It makes me happy to see other people happy!" I nodded, or tried to, instantly regretting the attempt.

"Yeah that makes sense. It's a good reason."

"I think all the hosts see it like that, although some of them, like Hika-chan and Kao-chan wouldn't admit it." I stared at the boy for a moment.

"You know Honey, you are a lot smarter than people give you credit for." He beamed at me.

"Thanks Nal-chan!" I returned his smile.

"Not a problem senpai, not a problem." He took my silence as the cue to ask his questions.

"Nal-chan?"

"Mmm?"

"Why were you so angry at that girl's boyfriend that day? Why do you think guys were raised to walk all over girls?" _Wasn't expecting that one. Well, here goes nothing._

"I have a story for you Honey, it starts when i was little. A boy sprawled next to me on the bus, elbows out, knee pointing sharp into my thigh. He frowned at me when I uncrossed my legs, unfolded my hands and splayed out like boys are taught to: all big, loose limbs. I made sure to jab him in the side with my pretty little sharp purse. At first he opened his mouth like I expected him to, but instead of speaking up he sat there, quiet, and took it for the whole bus ride. Like a girl. Then, a few months later, i protected Haruhi from a bully on the playground, and a boy said my anger was cute, and he laughed, and I remember thinking that I should sit there and take it, because it isn't ladylike to cause a scene and girls aren't supposed to raise their voices. But then he laughed again and all I saw was my pretty little sharp nails digging into his cheek before drawing back and making a horribly unladylike fist. My teacher informed me later that there is no ladylike way of making a fist." He was staring at me solemnly, and something told me he understood what i was getting at.

"Honey, girls are taught: be small, so boys can be big. Don't take up any more space than absolutely necessary. Be small and smooth with soft edges and hold in the howling when they touch you and it hurts: the sandpaper scrape of their body hair that we would be shamed for having, the greedy hands that press too hard and too often take without asking permission. Girls are taught: be quiet and unimposing and oh so small when they heckle you with their big voices from the window of a car, because it's rude to scream curse words back at them, and they'd just laugh anyway. We're taught to pin on smiles for the boys who jeer at us on the street who see us as convenient bodies instead of people. Girls are taught: hush, be hairless and small and soft,

so we sit there and take it and hold in the howling, pretend to be obedient lapdogs instead of the wolves we are. We pin pretty, little, sharp smiles on our faces instead of opening our mouths, because if we do we get accused of silly women emotions blowing everything out of proportion with our PMS, we get condescending pet names and not-so-discreet eyerolls." I looked him straight in the eye, seeing the understanding in his. "Once i got told i punch like a girl, i told him 'Good. I hope my pretty little sharp rings leave scars.'"

Honey opened his mouth, then closed it, before opening it again.

"It's like how no one ever says stuff like "girls will be girls" or "she's a girl", but the list of things a "young lady" can't do is almost endless?" I nodded my head, or tried to.

'Exactly! That's why i was upset. He hurt her, and we aren't supposed to do anything about it, because boys will be boys. I refuse to conform to that way of thinking, it's why i've survived so long, and through what i've been. So there's no way i'd back down from that." He cocked his head.

"What about your father? You backed down with him at times right?" I winced at that.

"Well….i had to. I...i don't think i loved my father Honey. I lost the ability to a long time ago, but that doesn't mean everything he did didn't hurt me. I craved his attention, i wanted him to notice and be proud of me, and what i'd done. That's the only reason i ever backed down from him. If it hadn't been for that, well...i wouldn't of." I was starting to get uncomfortable with the topics Honey was picking to talk about, so i switched the subject. "Say Honey, you talk about all this romance stuff when girls ask you questions, and you always seem to have good advice underneath all that "Well i'd give her lots of cake if she was mine' stuff. Why's that? Have someone special yourself?" I teased him at first, but my jaw fell open when he turned bright red and ducked his head to avoid making eye contact with me. "HONEY YOU DO HAVE A GIRL YOU LIKE!" The force of my excited yell startled the birds making them fly away from the trees around us, and made the jackhammer in my head pound a little harder.

He kept his face turned away from me as he syly nodded his head. _GAH I'D BE GLOMPING HIM NOW IF I COULD MOVE! _However, there was something sad in his eyes as he turned them away.

"Wait...Honey why is it a problem?" He was silent for a moment.

"She's scared of me, and what i can do." _Ouch, yeah that's rough. _"She's afraid of violence, so she doesn't really get what we do. But!" Here he cheered up. "She likes cake!" He was all hearts and smiles again at that, and i couldn't help but smile at that.

"Well Honey, i'm sure she'll come around if you can convince her nicely. Maybe show her you're not as scary as you seem." He nodded, but when his eyes skimmed my head again, i saw the worry in them. _Time to distract him before he begins freaking out for real over a little blood. _

"Hey wanna know a secret Honey?" He gazed down at me curiously. "I'm really envious of you and the rest of the hosts, it's why i was so hesitant to join the club at first." He stared at me in astonishment.

"But Nal-chan, Why!?" I shrugged, looking away into the tropical forest.

"You guys are just always so….happy. Like no matter what happens, as long as you're together it's like nothing can go wrong. I don't understand that kind of relationship, i've never really had it with anyone aside from Haruhi and Maddy, and, well...it all went wrong with us." He followed my gaze into the trees.

"It's a choice Nal-chan. It's because Tama-chan loves us all that we are able to stick together. And in turn we've learned how to love each other!" His mood was so cheerful as he exclaimed that, that i couldn't help the way my lips twisted in disbelief.

"Do you really think that Honey?" He looked down at me in confusion.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"I dunno. Maybe i'm just jaded, but i don't see it like that. Love is...well...love is complicated.

"Why?" He blinked at me innocently.

"Because senpai, when you fall in love with someone, you lose yourself a little, you begin to do thing you would never do, you begin to think in different ways, see people say love is what keeps us alive, but did you know love can also kill, love can hurt, love can destroy you? But you try to do so much for this thing you call love, you try to change for people you try to become a better person for people. But love will also make you blind. It makes you weak. Weak to that person you're in love with. So weak you stop thinking and you start acting more, you start losing your mind a little. All you want is the thing that you think keeps you alive. But in reality it's killing you. It destroying you. Mentally, physically, emotionally it's breaking you down day by day. But you're so in love that you don't see it. You don't want to believe it. You become blind. See people say love is what makes you keep going, people say love makes you feel alive. But in reality love can also kill. Love can also make you feel worthless." His big brown eyes were solemn as he responded to me.

"You're right Nal-chan. You are jaded." Then he smiled brightly at me. "We'll just have to change that!" I rolled my eyes.

"Good luck with that." He opened his mouth to respond, but suddenly froze, head turning, and i imagined if he was a dog in that moment he would've been frozen, nose lifted, ears poised for a sound only he could hear, and a presence only he could sense.

"Nal-chan." His voice was serious again. "You're going to need to get up and walk a little bit, think you can make it?"

"Yeah, but why? What's happening?" His eyes were scanning the trees as he helped me sit up.

"I can sense something out there. It's coming closer, and while i don't have a problem dealing with it, i can't guard you and fight at the same time, and you're in no state to be off running for help nei?"

"Yeah. Nor do i feel like becoming shark bait for whatever is out there." It was a struggle, but we managed to get up, and i made it a few shaky steps, leaning heavily on Honey as the world dipped and spun. "I-I'm sorry Honey." I was breathing heavily in an attempt not to puke. "I'm really trying here, but i don't know if i can do it."

"Don't give up Nal-chan!" His voice was fierce. "We have to keep going, i sense that this presence is malicious, but not entirely deadly so it's probably one of the lesser forms of _Waru_. But still, we need to be careful and get going as fast as possible. " We were moving, slowly but steadily, when i tripped and fell headfirst into a bush.

"Damn it...Honey can you help me out of this-" I looked up, lifting my head out of the dirt, and let loose a terrified shriek of horror. Scrambling back as fast as i could to avoid the small, infant like hands dripping blood that were reaching out towards me from a bush a few feet in front of the one i'd tripped into. "H-Honey! We've got company!"

* *Authors Note* *

Alright so i got a request to amp up the supernatural stuff so here you go! Also trying to give you a better understanding of Nala, and build her friendship with Honey. How's it sounding so far? Also do any of you guys know what creature i pulled out of japanese lore for this? hehe. They're…freaky to say the least. Anywho till next time! I'm going to try and update as much as possible these next few weeks, so wish me luck! Love you all! Enjoy!


	23. Chapter 23

I scrambled back from the hands desperately, the branches scratching at my back and hands, but my panic and fear momentarily blocked out the pain my body was in.

"Nal-chan!" Honey's hand grabbed mine and tugged me back in a flash as the bloody infants hands struck like vipers. Flashing out of the bush in the blink of an eye, they grasped desperately at my face, before just as quickly jerking themselves back.

"L-let me guess. Th-those are the _Waru _you sensed earlier? I thought you said they weren't gonna be too bad!" His now serious brown eyes kept careful watch on the suddenly still, and silent woods around us.

"I didn't sense those, they disguised themselves somehow. If i'd know there were Akateko I'd have taken us a different way completely!" I stared at him blankly.

"Aka what?" His eyes darted from one tree to another, as he ushered me towards a clearing we could see a little bit away.

"The're the hands of malicious yokai who died as children and aren't content with their fate. They try and suck the lifeforce from the people they can catch in their grasp, so that they can join them in their fate." I winced.

"Oh delicious." _Please note heavy sarcasm. _"How do we get rid of these things? Can we run?" He shook his head sadly.

"No, our only advantage is that they can't leave the trees they dangle from, but for now we can't know how many there are so it's safer to stay in the open." _Shit, right now is not the time to be stuck in a life or death battle when i'm not sure if i'm going to hurl, or pass out at any given moment._ I didn't even realize i'd spoken out loud till Honey answered what i thought had been my own private thoughts.

"Yeah. I wish we had cake right now, cake makes everything better." I gaped at him for a moment, but before i could reply, the world swam again, and i had to sit down hard.

"Say Honey," I swallowed heavily as saliva began pooling in my mouth and my jaw to to ache. "Grab me that branch right there. Maybe we can intimidate them with me puking all over their tree. And if that fails, i'll whack them with his." He dragged it over to me, placing the end in my hands.

The bark was rough underneath the soft skin of my fingertips, and when i hefted it, it had a solid weight behind it that would make whacking something with it a very painful experience for the one being whacked. Kinda like a baseball bat. _Good, no yokai hand kid things are getting anywhere near me any time soon. Like ever if i can help it. _I smirked evilly and glared at the surrounding tropical woods.

A low rumble from the sky had me glancing up in surprise. The formerly blue sky with it's shining sun was being filled with dark, ominous clouds, there was the rumble of thunder, and the bright flash of lightening high above us in them. The breeze picked up, lifting my formerly wet, but now dry and frizzy hair, up to tickle my face. Swatting it away, i felt something splash on my hand, and i jerked it back in horror swinging the branch up as my eyes lifted in fear afraid i'd find the small, bloody hands above me again. I was wrong, it was only a raindrop, one that was soon followed by thousands of others as the skies opened up and let loose a torrential downpour on Honey and I.

Without the cover of the trees, we were soaked and shivering within moments.

"H-Honey, i thought this was some man made tropical getaway slash waterpark thing…?" He seemed just as confused as i.

"It is Nal-chan...it is.." He curled up against my back, a small warmth against the chilly wind and cold rain.

"I hate this." I jerked in surprise at Honey's voice, rather than it's normal cheerful tone, it was rough, full of anger. In that moment, it was easy to remember he was over 2 years older than i was. "I hate how weak the human body is. We're sitting here cold, and alone, unable to get away, while the yokai sit there and watch us waiting for us to be weak enough for them to attack and take what they want." I snaked my hand back till i found his, and squeezed it gently.

"Honey-kun…"

"They have the advantage because now they're just spirits. We are human, and can bleed, can die easily under the influence of these creatures. It's why the hosts and I do what we do with our gifts, because it's our chance to help keep other humans, who are weaker than we are, safe from things that terrorize us all." He sounded like he was about to cry from frustration, his voice rough and angry. Angry at the creatures hunting us, angry at the elements thwarting us, angry at himself for deeming himself weak. _Well this won't do. It's what the Waru are looking for, an opening in his heart and mind that is a chink in his armor. _

"Honey stop it. Your body is made of the same elements that lionesses are built from. Three quarters of you is the same kind of water that beats rocks to rubble, wears stones away. Your DNA translates into the same twenty amino acids that wolf genes code for. When you look in the mirror and feel weak, remember, the air you breathe in fuels forest fires capable of destroying everything they touch. On the days you feel ugly, remember, diamonds are only carbon. You are so much more."

He relaxed against my back, and i heard him expel a low breath. "The yokai aren't stronger because they're spirits, they're weaker, but they don't want you to know that. So before you go off letting them know that you're ready to accept defeat against them, remember; we are strong _because _we are human, _because _we feel emotion, _because _we bleed when we fall, because _we _have the ability to pick ourselves back up every time no matter what it is that happens. They do not." I nudged him playfully with my elbow. "How's it feel to be a lioness Honey?" He snorted, and i felt a tension leave his body at that, before he reverted back to his normal self.

"Do lionesses like cake?" I grinned.

"Of course they do Honey!"

We sat like that for what to me felt like hours, but what was probably only twenty or so minutes. But finally, the rain began to let up till it was nothing more than a light drizzle. I wasn't aware i'd dozed off till a panic filled voice cut through the darkness and pulled me out of the sleep i'd fallen into.

"Honey..?" I blinked bleary eyes up at him, finding him standing there with a look of fear on his face.

"Nal-chan!" He collapsed against me crying now. "You had me so scared! You fell asleep and i've been trying to wake you for half an hour and you weren't moving! I thought you were dead!" I patted his head softly, and smiled into his hair.

"Nah, did you honestly think i would do that on you? I've got too many plans with my life to let myself go off and die now. Although i guess this does show that i'll probably need some medical attention when we get found by the club. Where's Ootori when you need him huh?" Honey pulled back sniffling softly.

"Mmmmhhmm!"

A glance around mr showed us surrounded by muddy puddles, there was water steadily dripping off the trees filling the man made tropical forest with its' soft pitter-patter, but the rain had slowed to a halt, and the clouds were slowly dissipating into a fog that was settling over the ground around us. Honey's eyes were flicking between me and the trees around us as he worried his lower lip with his teeth, a habit i didn't now he had.

"Nala does that_."_ I didn't realize i'd spoken out loud till Honey fixed his eyes back on me.

"Does what?" I frowned at him in confusion.

"Did i say that out loud?" At his nod, i couldn't hold in a small giggle. "Whoops." His face now held flat out concern.

"Nal-chan look at me." I rolled my eyes to meet his, but found myself having trouble focusing. He sucked in a breath, and i asked what was wrong. "You're pupils are really dilated, and your head is still bleeding." I frowned as i tried to muddle through what he'd said.

Something in the back of my mind was screaming at me, that i knew this, that i should be figuring it out faster, but it was like the fog in the air had drifted straight into my brain, and my thoughts were slow in coming, and when they came i was having trouble piecing it together. _Concussion…_ The word whispered through my mind, momentarily piercing the fog my head was in. _Well shit. This ain't good. _

"Say Honey, you can't by any chance whip up some good ol' priestly magic that can make us a tracking flare by any chance, can you?" My comment, although i was dead serious, brought a bit of a smile to his face.

"No Nal-chan that's not how it works."

"Well...damn." I pouted at the ground. "That could make this situation veeerryyy awkward."

"Awkward?" He tilted his head at me questioningly.

"Uh, it's a figure of speech, also sarcasm on my part. Just forget i said it. Can we get through these woods in the opposite direction of the….yokai?"

I didn't want to say the names of the monstrously creepy hands. The thought of Honey, and the club dealing with these and worse on a daily basis made my stomach turn. _And i complain about the amount of homework i have on as my everyday struggle…_ Shame filled me, as i realized something. While i may feel at home with the host club, i hadn't bothered to form any real relationships with any of them. They were superficial ones that didn't go past surface level.

_It's not a surprise that i always wonder why i don't feel a connection with them, because i haven't been trying to build one… _The sense of shame only intensified, and i shut my eyes in embarrassment. _I'm such a fool. I'm a host, those boys should be my second family like they are to Haruhi. Yet because i'm too stubborn and try to drive everyone away from me, or take people for granted, i don't have that with them..._I was surprised to find my eyes starting to sting as i held back tears. _Not anymore. From this point on, i will form real friendships with the club. Just because i've gone through a lot of stuff recently doesn't excuse how i've pushed their offers at friendship away. _

"Honey, I-" I was cut off, as Honey caught my arm, and yanked my back.

"Watch out!"

He grabbed the branch, and beat back the hands that had shot out at us.

"Well Honey," i forced myself to sit up ignoring the sickening wave that shot over me at the movement. "It would appear our friends here have decided to stop the whole waiting us out plan. Looks like it's time to start fighting."

_Hold onto your seatbelts kids. It's about to get a little rough._

_*Haruhi's POV*_

It was downpouring, and we were hidden in a little gazebo away from the rain. Tamaki and the twins were coming up with more idiotic plans to find Honey and Nala, while Kyoya was quietly talking on his phone with someone. I glance around revealed Mori standing at the edge of the gazebo, staring out into the rain as if Honey would materialize from it and run to climb up on his shoulders. Well, his face was blank, but that's what i sensed from him. I didn't get vibes from people like Nala's cousin Maddy had always been able to, but i knew him well enough to guess.

_He's pretty concerned… _Anyone would've been able to tell, as it was, he wasn't acting like himself. Just earlier before the rain hit, we'd been walking, and he'd acted just as clumsy as Tamaki normally did, slipping on a banana peel and falling.

Sitting down on a bench next to the twins, i asked about Mori's relationship with Honey.

"Are they childhood friends or something?"

The twins glanced at him and Hikaru snorted at me.

"Those two,"

"Are cousins."

My jaw dropped open. _No way! _

"Heh!? _Those two _are relatives_?!"_

Kyoya, like always, just appeared next to me and explained it all. After which Tamaki decided to throw in his two cents.

"It must get his blood going, the blood of vassals of yore, which flows through Mori-senpai."

The twins began crying dramatically, and i sweatdropped at their actions. _Damn rich people. _Opting to ignore them, i turned my head back to Mori's still form as he stood there staring out into the downpour.

_I'm not sure i understand all this about getting his blood going, but he does think an awful lot of Honey-senpai, huh? _Almost without thinking, i stood and crossed over behind him. Gently resting a hand on his arm, i felt him jump slightly at the unexpected touch before he turned to face me.

"Mori-senpai, it'll be alright. Honey-senpai and Nala are safe, they're tougher than you think. And if they get hungry, there's plenty of bananas in the trees."

He was silent for a moment, and i could almost feel the twins and Tamaki betting on what he said, before he placed a hand on my head.

"Yeah."

Tamaki's shocked, dark aura exploded around him behind us, but i opted to ignore it as i went back to my seat. Finally, the rain stopped, but the rest of the hosts, aside from Mori, were too busy with what they were doing to notice it. However, i spotted Mori walking away, and sliding off my seat, left the gazebo and ran after him.

"Wait it's dangerous to go alone Mori senpai! And they're the other way!"

"No." His voice was soft, firm, determined. "They're this way." A sign fell over his head reading 'natural instinct', and i shrugged deciding to follow him.

"Alright, but i'm coming to!"

*Nala's POV*

Honey was fighting like a mad man, and me? Well I was sitting there cheering him on.

"Go Honey! You got this! That's right knock it away! WATCH OUT ON YOUR LEFT!"

He heard my warning and swung that way to knock it away from him. _I feel awful. I'm stuck here unable to help at all and he could be hurt! Mori will MURDER me if he is...! I have to come up with something to help! _My eyes flicked around worriedly.

"Honey! Is there anything I can do to help?"

He fell back from the hands as they seemed to draw back at the sound of my voice after my somewhat prolonged silence. He was sweating and had a cut on his forehead, but was otherwise fine. His worried eyes ran over me before he went back to watching the Joe silent woods around us. "Honey even if I'm throwing rocks I need to help you,"

His brown eyes shimmered for a moment as the sun danced across his face, but he seemed to be contemplating something.

"There may be a way Nal-chan!" Even as he spoke though, his eyes flickered with worry.

"What is is Honey?"

"Well, it's dangerous, but it would heal you."

"I'm all for it! I, uh, eat danger for breakfast!"

He shook his head at me.

"Not like this Nal-chan. You have to let the yokai attach themselves to you."

I blanched at that, there was no way he was serious...or maybe he was if the serious, determined look in his eyes and on his face was anything to go by.

"What will that do for me?"

"Well," he scanned the trees again before speaking. "The yokai suck the energy from you, but the energy in your body is focusing predominantly on the wounds you have right now, so it would be pulled from there first-"

I cut him off.

"Don't I need that energy to heal though!?"

"Wait let me finish first Nal-chan!"

"Ok, ok sorry."

"Like I was saying though, they would take the energy from the wounds, but as they draw it it's like they're speeding the healing process up and it heals your wounds even as it takes the energy from them. It's very dangerous, but it could work."

I pointed to the cut on his head which was still bleeding.

"Why don't you do it to then? You're the one fighting, yet you haven't."

He shook his head at me. A grim look on his face.

"I can't. It's too dangerous for me. For priests, the Magic the yokai wield can become extremely addictive if we are exposed to, or use it for long periods of time. And if you're addicted to why you're supposed to destroy, well it doesn't end well."

_Ahh that makes sense. But still, darn that sucks because he's the fighter not me...still it could be worth a shot. _Staring at him with grim determination, I nodded my head.

"Let's do it."

Worry coated his features, but he nodded back and straightened.

"Let me explain first what will happen. At first you won't feel anything, it'll be like floating, then it will transform into a dream, as soon as the dream becomes a nightmare, you need to wake up. As soon as it transforms into a nightmare is when you've been healed and the yokai are taking your life energy."

"Alright...life energy equals nightmare. Bad energy to heal me equals dream. Because that totally makes sense." I was talking to myself now, so shaking my head, I held out a hand to him. "Help me over there Honey, and here's to hoping I wake up on time. If you see the wounds closing and me not waking grab me and yank me away okay?"

"Hai." He took my hand, and helped me to within reaching distance of the trees before he backed away. I knew he was worried, but I was determined to do what it took to help him. Even if that meant putting myself into the clutches of the enemy for a time. I didn't have to wait long, within moments of sitting there, the yokai struck.

*Author's Note*

Hello loves! Alright *hides behind Kyoya* don't murder me for dragging this episode on so much! There's just so much to put in that i sit here writing and writing and then i'm like whoa six pages? So then i post it and go back to writing! BUT the next chapter will wrap it up and we'll be good so don't hate me! Also was it ok having Nala realize she needed to work on her friendships with them? I thought i was the easiest way to bring that around, but i'm not sure, so was doing that ok? Also are you excited for the next chapter? :D


	24. Chapter 24

I was floating, just like Honey had said i would. Floating towards a hazy, dream-like memory.

_A little girl sat crouched on the steps to a small suburban house, she held a doll in one hand, and was reaching for a small hairbrush with the other. _

_"Nala darling, it's time for you to come inside for dinner!" _

_The sweet voice belonged to the child's mother. The woman stood leaning against the doorframe with her hip, wiping her hands on her apron to dry them as she she smiled fondly at her little girl. _

_Nala looked up at her mother happily. __**This is how it's supposed to be. I miss you mama.**_ _She didn't speak the words out loud, but rather in her child form, sprang up and ran to hug her mother. Laughing, the woman returned the embrace. _

_"I hope you don't mind sweetie but I invited some of your friends over for dinner too." _

_Frowning, Nala wondered who they could be. Maddy was out of the country again, and Haru hadn't mentioned she was coming by. _

_"Who is it mommy?" _

_The young Nala's voice was soft, plaintive, not trying to hide what she felt. It brought a smile to her mother's face as she knelt and pressed a kiss to the girl's face. _

_"You know them baby girl. You'll see." _

_She held out her hand to her daughter with a soft smile, and Nala slid her own Into it with a returning, trusting smile and a heartfelt, happy sigh. Skipping behind her mother, she happily ran down the hall from the front door into the kitchen, only to freeze in shock at who she saw there. _

_The host club sat around the small kitchen table in all their glory, smirks on the twins faces, a beaming smile on Tamaki's face as he held Haruhi's hand, a blank stare from Mori, followed by Honey's wide smile, and the familiar flash of Kyoya's glasses as he turned his head to look at her. _

_"Welcome home Nala."_

_Frowning, the girl walked up to them. However the scene shifted, so rather than being in the memory like state of her childhood, she was back in her normal body as if it had been transferred into the dream. _

"_Why are you guys here? It doesn't make sense.." _

_She trailed off slowly as Kyoya glanced up smirking. _

"_Why are we here Nala? A wonderful question, one you should be asking yourself." _

_I took a jerky step back at his accusing tone, and bumped into someone. Somehow, the twins had positioned themselves on either side of me, and for the life of me, i couldn't tell them apart. _

"_You don't let us in Nala," They pouted at me. "All we want is to be your friend, why don't you let us in?" _

_Yanking myself out of their grip, i leapt back, crashing into the table behind me and into Honey and Mori. _

"_We can't help you if you don't let us Nal-chan. We saw you at your worst, but now you won't let us see you at your best."_

_The frustration built, angry tears filling my eyes as i pulled back from them all._

"_You're always so reserved."_

"_Never act like yourself."_

"_You need to trust them-"  
_"_EVERYONE SHUT UP!" _

_Thunder rumbled outside, as my frustrated scream rang through the room, instantly silencing the others. _

"_Do you guys not realize i'm trying!? I am! I just don't know how to freaking relate to you all! You're all rich, and privileged, and i'm scared of it!"_

_I was panting at this point, my words still ringing through the room. I dropped my head in frustration, but upon raising it back up, screamed bloody murder. The twins sat crouched in tiger form in front of me, tails lashing back and forth as they bared their long sharp teeth at me, Honey and Mori's eyes glowed as they slowly approached me, and Tamaki's fangs had dropped. I stumbled back from them. __**I need to wake up! **__Fear flooded my system as the tigers crept closer. __**This is when i need to wake up before the yokai take too much from me….i think that's what Honey said anyway, when it turns into a nightmare right? **__I stared at Tamaki in fear as he raised glowing red eyes to look at me. __**If so i need to wake up NOW! **__The tigers leapt, and i heard the crack of lightening striking something outside as everything around me went dark._

_o_

"AHHHHHH!"

I woke up screaming.

"Nal-chan!"'

Honey shouted and yanked me back from the yokai's reach. I braced myself for the dizziness and pain, but there was nothing. _Whaa?_ Raising a hand to my forehead, i found no bump, no cut, no nothing.

"Sweet!"

I fist pumped the air momentarily forgetting the 'I want to kill you' yokai just a bare hands reach from me. _No pun intended at that..._ Honey suddenly threw his arm around me in a vice like hug, and began crying into my shoulder.

Pulling farther away from the grasping yokai I patted his head.

"Honey? Honey what's wrong? Did something happen while I was out!?"

He kept wailing into my shoulder, while I continued to pat his head and rub his back. _He was that worried for me? _Shame filled me momentarily again. _What have I been missing out on with these guys? _I was still mentally berating myself after the dream and my realization of how I'd pushed the guys away from me so much and cocooned myself against their attempts to befriend me, and make me a part of their little family.

"I was so worried!" He finally pulled back from me, gazing up into my face, his sweet eyes were red-rimmed and puffy. "At first you just lay so still, then the color came back into you and the cut healed, and you were mumbling, and then you weren't waking up! I kept shouting for you, but you just lay there!"

"Oh Honey." I pulled him back into another hug, but kept my eyes on the yokai that had gathered at the edge of the clearing. "I'm not going anywhere. If I can survive through what I've been through, then a few yokai won't hurt me. Especially when I have such good friends to watch my back."

Honey's eyes got real wide as he stared up at me.

"What? What did I say?"

His shock was plain on his face as he responded.

"You've never called any of us..._friends _before...! Ayeeeee!" He was back to his bone crushing hug. "I'm so happy! You care! We have all been so worried we hadn't been helping you at all!"

I shook my head down at him, gently extracting myself from his grip and taking a few deep breaths before finding my voice again.

"I totally admit to having been an idiot Honey, you guys have been there for me through everything and it hasn't been fair of me to push you all away. But," I eyes the yokai warily as they seemed to come a little closer, as if they were testing their limits. "I vote we continue this later, after we get out of here alive. Now, where's my stick?"

Haruhi's POV

"Eeeyaahh!"

This was the third deadly accident I had almost been in. First, I'd nearly gotten tangled up by a boa constrictor, then a swarm of poisonous bugs had swarmed towards me, and now I had almost fallen into another alligator pit. _Why did kyoya-senpai and his family make it SO realistic? This was supposed to be relaxing! _

"Haruhi."

"Eh?"

I looked up at Mori-senpai as he stood over me at the edge of the alligator pit. _That's the first time, _he suddenly scooped me up into his arms, _that he's ever called me by my name. _ A Ssight blush burned my face at that thought. _I'm just a bit pleased at that. _

Standing straight, while still holding me, Mori began making his way deeper into the woods in his search for Honey.

Nala's POV

"Did you hear that Honey?!"

I was panting and holding my stick with now bloody fingers that had been worn ragged from my tight grip on the rough bark.

Honey danced away from another of the grasping hands, chanting something that made it disappear in a small puff of some sort of smoky haze.

"No Nal-chan, what did you hear?"

He was panting just a little as he pulled himself from the fray to briefly stand next to me. I shook my head in confusion, scanning the tree tops around us.

"I'm not sure, I thought I heard the echo of a voice saying 'eliminate all suspicious figures without mercy', but I may have just imagined it."

He frowned as he too scanned the trees.

"Maybe, maybe not, but I didn't hear anything Nal-chan."

I nodded briefly at him, but before I could respond, i had to duck out of the way and whack one of the hands away from Honey and I.

"Honey! Is there some sort of spell you can do to get rid of all these things?!" He breathlessly made some wordless affirmation as he fought at my back. "Alright good! I'm assuming that it'll take you some time to pull together, so you do that, and I'll watch your back! Go!"

He opened his mouth to argue, when I spun to face him, but I just ran past him screaming wordlessly at the top of my lungs in some sort of battle cry.

The clearing around us had turned into some form of battle ground, severed yokai hands dragged themselves across the the wet, muddy ground towards us, while others darted from high in the trees before jerking back again. The ground of the clearing was covered in blood, mud, and all manner of yokai filth, but hey, at least it had stopped raining on us, and the sun was out.

I was sprinting across said clearing, slamming yokai hands away with my stick as they darted from the trees, and stepping on the severed ones that crept over the ground when it happened. A soft, flickering, shimmering mist began to creep around my legs. It moved like fog, slowly crawling across the ground, reaching out its long tentacles to wrap around the Akatko. Every single one of the bloody hands it touched, evaporated immediately, the puff of smoke they became joining the swirling mist to creep ever closer to the tree line.

"Honey?" I pulled back a bit from the tree line, deeper into the iridescent mist because I sensed it wasn't out to destroy me. "This is your doing right?"

I turned to find him kneeling on the ground, chanting something under his breath. Within moments, the Akatko were all gone, or so it seemed, and the mist was slowly sinking into the ground.

"I'm done Nal-chan!" Honey stood up from his kneeling position, beaming at me. "And I'm hungry. We should hurry and get candy!"

I grinned, and laughing, picked him up and swung him around, cheering at our success. Our happy moment was broken however, when we heard a sharp voice ring through the trees.

"Put the young man down before we have to resort to using force!"

Followed by a familiar shout. I took off sprinting, as Honey leapt into the trees and began using vines Tarzan style.

"Takashi! Haru-chan! Watch out!"

Honey began yelling something, and letting go of the vine, crashed feet first into some soldier, black ops looking guy. The blow sent the man flying, and Honey landed on his feet like a cat.

"What do you think you're doing, pipsqueak!"

Suddenly the battalion of scary looking masked guys had their guns trained on Honey. _Oh hell naw! Not my little man!_

I slid out of the clearing and chucked my stick at the guy closest to Honey with the gun. It slammed into his arm causing him to drop it, and even as that happened, I leapt monkey style onto the back of another one.

The man snarled and ripped me off his back sending me flying into a bush with a yelp. It knocked the wind outta me, and it took a moment before I was able to stand and get back to the others. When I managed to stumble into the clearing, I found Honey with his head bowed, saying,

"Don't go off being so reckless! Picking on my friends is a big no-no!"

I swear dropped, _I couldn't have been gone more than a minute..._shoving the disturbing thought out of my head, as I reminded myself I'd already seen Honey in most of his worst states, I ran to Haruhi and Mori.

"Are you guys ok?!" I gripped Haruhi's shoulders, before pulling her into a bone crushing hug, before proceeding to do the same to Mori. "I was so worried for you guys when I heard Haruhi shout! And then saw all these guys with guns! Especially after we fought all the yokai!"

"Eh?!"

Haruhi and Mori made the same shocked noise, but before they could ask their obvious questions, a shout was heard.

"Haruhi!"

And upon looking, I found the twins, tamaki, and kyoya all sprinting towards us.

"Ah! Tama-chan!"

Honey turned and threw him a huge smile, and the twins ground to a halt.

"Huh?"

"Honey-senpai?"

"HARUHI!"

She was suddenly in Tamaki's embrace, and I snorted behind him.

"Nice to see you too Tamaki."

Of course he didn't hear me, instead choosing to rub his chin on Haruhi's head, much like a cat, while he murmured something to her.

Suddenly the twins were on either side of me, poking two of the soldiers unconscious on the ground.

"Not sure what happened here, but they seem ok."

"They'll ever be fine, all that happened was their own stupidity."

"Nala!"

Upon hearing my voice, the twins spun, and threw their arms to me, and, much to their shock, I returned the embrace.

"Hey guys! You missed all the fun!"

"Fun?"

Kyoya's voice cut through my happiness like a knife through butter and I spun around, poking him in the chest.

"Oh yes fun! Alligator tanks, current pools, concussions, and yokai are a world of fun! Honestly dude, why is the place so bloody realistic! And why were these guys pointing guns at my friends!"

He blinked, and in the background I vaguely heard the twins explaining to Haruhi about Honey being a martial arts champion. As he opened his mouth to reply, he was cut off.

"We humbly apologize!"

"Eh?"

Haruhi and I chorused as we turned to find the soldier guys bowing to Honey.

"We are in your debt!"

Honey blinked.

"Eh is that so?"

"Yes, sir! We are sorry! We were completely unaware that we were supposed to be looking for _you, _and have committed a terrible offense! Even if it was accidental!"

_Aren't these guys taking it a little too far? Talk about sucking up...then again, Honey is pretty amazing._

Honey kind of just nodded, before turning away and running to Mori.

"Takashi," Honey was all smiles and flowers, "you did a good job protecting Haru-chan."

Patting Mori's head, Mori looked very pleased with himself. _Kind of like a dog who gets a treat from their owner... "_You didn't get lonely without me around nei?"

Mori's dark eyes cut to the side as he solemnly replied to Honey.

"I wouldn't say that."

Honey beamed up at him, and I flicked my gaze to Haruhi, a smile of my own breaking across my face at the look of pure wonder and shock on hers.

"Say everyone, I vote we walk back and explain what happened while we were separated, sound good?"

After everyone chorused yes to that, we all headed back towards the current pool and told the rest of the hosts what had happened with the Akatko, my injury, healing and how Honey had apparently exorcised the park so in future no one would have problems.

"We should go to the beach next time to clear the mood."

"Yeah the beach would be nice."

"Idiots!" Tamaki cut their conversation off there. "Haruhi wouldn't be interested in doing that!"

Haruhi paused, a small contemplative smile on her face.

"Actually, I wouldn't mind that." She paused and turned to face the current pool. "This obviously artificial location may not be any fun, but the beach would be nice. It's pretty there."

Tamaki took a mere second to get over his shock before he was grinning evilly and smirking with a hand on his chin, and another on his hip.

"Alright. You got it! Next time, we go to the beach!"

The twins and Honey were all smiles, and grins, now.

"He said we're going to the beach next! Won't it be fun Takashi?"

"Yeah."

There was a calmness about Mori that surprised me now that i was looking at him, a small smile on his face, and his eyes focused ahead of him as he walked towards the car with Honey on his shoulders. _These guys are overflowing with compassion, have I really been so scared to just dip my hands into it? Apparently I have. _ Shoving the thoughts out f my head, my slight aggravation with Kyoya melted, and I sprinted forward to throw my arm around his shoulders with a whoop.

"To the beach!"

"We aren't going today Nala!"

"Ehhhhh?!" I pouted at the twins, "Wwwhhhyyy?"

"Because it's late!"

"You guys are no fun! It's called skinny dipping at night!"

"WHAT!? MY PRECIOUS DAUGHTER WILL NOT GO SKINNY DIPPING, AT NIGHT, DAY, MIDNIGHT, SUNRISE OR ANYWHERE IN BETWEEN! STOP HARASSING HER INTO DIRTY STUFF YOU SHADY TWINS!"

"But it wasn't our idea!"

"Sure it wasn't! Nasty perverts!"

"Boss!"

I grinned happily at the playful banter, my arm still around Kyoya's shoulders, I laughed up at his serious face.

"So you're not mad with me anymore?"

I blinked at him.

"Nah that came and went I get why the park is like this, but it wasn't too useful in the moment."

He nodded, and scribbled something down in his black book, before seeming to hesitate until i laughed up at him.

"Kyoya, what a normal person does, is put their arm around the other person."

I playfully nudged him with my elbow, until he gave in, and put his arm around my shoulders to walk with me to the car.

* * Authors note * *

Hello everyone! I'm back from my trip! Can I just say driving from MA to CO is a long freaking drive? But I got this chapter and most of another one done! I'm feeling more back on track now that we've moved and all that. Anyway, was it good? I know I kept it a bit short but I didn't want to keep dragging it out after how I did that either the previous two chapters. Anyway, the next few chapters will involve the beach, and we all know what happens there. Do any of you guys have any ideas on how I could improve the cliff scene? Make it a bit special? I'm not sure, I want to do something different with it, but i dont know, so we'll see what happens! Anyways please review! I love hearing what you all have to say! Enjoy!


	25. Chapter 25

I was watching the twins warily as they crossed the room to me. They held matching grins on their faces, and mischief glittered in their eyes.

"Hello Nala!"

I merely raised an eyebrow at them.

"Alright guys, what's up? You practically stink of sneakiness."

Their matching smirks deepened at my words.

Over the past few days since the horrible day that was the water park fiasco, I had grown much closer with the hosts. It was my daily routine now tto go from classes to the club with the twins and Haruhi as we exchanged jokes and playful jabs at each other, then, when I arrived I would sit down and eat cake with Honey and Mori as we talked about the supernatural. They had kind of taken over teaching me about it since the water park, so in case an incident happened again, I would know what to do. Then, I would find some way to put Haruhi and Tamaki together in an awkward situation, that normally involved the twins help, before we all went to pester Kyoya into doing something fun with us. He hadn't fallen for any of our traps as of yet.

Today, as the twins approached me, the first thing I noticed was that Haruhi wasn't with them. So, flicking a glance at them, I tossed Kaoru my school bag and grinned back in challenge at them both.

"Before you guys even start, know that A, I am having a good day so don't even think about doing some form of nasty prank on me! And B, what on earth did you do with Haru?!"

Their smirks deepened, and they started to circle me like sharks as kaoru placed my bag back on my desk. Just as they seemed about to answer my question, my phone rang.

It was Maria.

"Hello Maria!" My voice was cheerful, but faltered as i heard her frantic words. I had a feeling my perfect day was about to go down the metaphorical drain.

"Thank goodness! You're ok!"

"Ano...why wouldn't I be..?"

She took a deep breathe in, and seemed to slowly let it out.

"I just got a call from the lease owner of your house," my stomachs clenched and rolled with nerves at her words. "She said that she walked in on two men ransacking your room when she went to check on the building condition. She said they threatened her, and asked where you were."

My breath caught in my throat and I sat down hard in my desk chair. I could feel the worried glances from the twins, but I ignored them.

"What?! When was this?! Is the lady ok?! Maria, what is happening!" My voice was breathy with panic. "I don't understand! I thought you knew who the guy was! Why isn't he in jail yet?!"

She took another deep breath.

"Nala, we went over this! I can't touch him without my captain's permission! He's being watched now, but until he does something really damning we can't take him in on anything aside from suspicion, and since he's a cop to, he'll know just how to get out of any charges we can try to press on that. Especially if he has powerful, dangerous people on his side."

_I'm going to puke. _The world spun around me as the horror of the situation finally hit me. I found myself unable to breathe. _How did they find me?! I don't...I can't...what do I do?! WHAT DO I DO?! WHAT DO I-_

I was cut off by Someone smacking me in the back. Hard.

"Nala! Snap out of it!"

At some point Hikaru had gotten the phone from me, and kaoru had slammed his hand into my back to pull me out of my funk. Hikaru was grim as Maria, I assumed, repeated what she'd told me. He shared a glance with his twin, who nodded back, before scooping me up into his arms bridal style.

"Cmon Nala. We're going back to the club room. We can have the shadow lord send his minions out searching."

I couldn't even reply to his minion joke, which had started to be a thing when I began comparing Kyoya to Gru from Despicable Me just the other day after Haruhi and I had had the club over to watch the second one with us. I was shaking too badly, so I just buried my face against his shoulder and focused on not hyperventilating. Girls squealed and shrieked as they saw kaoru carrying me down the hall, but we both ignored them. Me fighting a nasty panic attack, and kaoru strangely grim and solemn.

"Haruhi!" His voice rang through the club room when he slammed the door open and carried me in. "Come here!"

Haruhi was currently with guests, but a glance in our direction had her face blanching of color, and with fear in her eyes she leapt out of her seat to hurry over it us.

"What happened?!"

Panic edged into her voice as she helped kaoru sit me down on an empty couch. All I could do was mutely shake my head

Kaoru began to explain to her what he'd seen in the classroom, because he didn't have any details himself yet, when Hikaru burst into the room.

"Where's Kyoya!?"

"Ahem." Said person, was calmly standing from his seat. "Ladies, Miss Nala seems to have been taken ill suddenly, we apologize profusely for having to cancel club activities, but she must be..._personally_ tended to."

The girls picked up his hidden cue on the word personally, and all began fangirling over how they shipped Kyola. I had had a vague idea that it was one of their new weird club ships, but now it seemed that since i knew it it made it canon, or did it? I was muddying through it as a source of distraction, when one girl oh so kindly pointed out that Kaoru had carried me in, and another large group of girls began shrieking about Naru, and love triangles and how Hikaru would handle his brother fighting over someone that wasn't his twin.

At this point i was getting over my initial shock, so i managed to play along like i knew Kyoya wanted me to.

"Um, yes, thank you ladies, but i really do need a few, um, moments with Kaoru, and...Ootori, and the rest of the hosts…"

Even though i was only playing along, upon hearing how breathy my name was when saying Kaoru, and Kyoya's names, a furious blush burned its way up my neck and over my face. This started off more screaming, which didn't quiet down until the hosts had helped escort all the girls out of the club room, shut, and then locked the doors.

"Alright," I found myself now surrounded by my friends as Haruhi spoke. "Spill it."

i went quiet again, as the panic began to set into my mind at the prospect of voicing my new horror story out loud, so rather than speaking, i caught Hikaru's eyes and gestured for him to come over. He seemed to get what i was getting at, because he stepped over and began talking.

"The guy Nala's dad sold her to ransacked her house, basically the people her father owed a debt to are looking to...collect. And by collect," He looked solemnly at me. "They're looking to collect Nala."

Haruhi sucked in an angry breath as Honey, Tamaki, Mori, and kaoru let out gasps. Kyoya, as always, didn't say anything, merely whipped out his laptop and began furiously typing away. My eyes slid over him, and upon closer inspection, i noticed a few things. Like how his jaw was tight with tension, and even as his fingers flew over the keys, there was a stiffness in them i had never seen before. He seemed to sense me watching, because he glanced up at me, pausing for a moment in his typing, and his dark eyes met my own green ones, A _feeling_, of some sort passed over the room between us, and i was the first to look away from his sharp eyes. His glasses flashed as he turned his head back towards the computer, and he resumed typing.

Upon glancing back towards Haruhi, my eyes caught Kaoru as he glanced between Kyoya and i, his jaw tightening, and Hikaru, as he watched his brother with a sad expression in his golden, cat like eyes.

_what's up with that? _Choosing to not voice my thoughts, i opted to instead turn towards Haruhi. As my green eyes met her tearful doe eyes, i felt tears gather in my eyes in response, and i slid off the couch to pull her into a hug. Yet again, i found myself kneeling on the ground, crying, and hugging my best friend on the floor of the host club room. _I guess history has decided to repeat herself. _Before i could voice my thought, Kyoya made a small noise of agony, and slumped in his chair, his hands flying to his head.

"Kyoya!?"

My voice was full of shock and horror as he crumpled in his chair. Leaping up to go to him, I was held back by Kaoru.

"What are you doing!? He's hurting!"

Kaoru shook his head down at me with a grim look on his face that mirrored the rest of the host's faces, even Haruhi stayed where she was.

"We can't touch him Nala." Tamaki,s normally cheerful voice was grim. "He's in the middle of an intense vision, if we touch him we'll get sucked into it to."

My jaw dropped. _Kyoya is caught in his mind, alone and obviously in pain and you guys are scared of helping him!?_

"Screw that!"

I snarled angrily and jerked out of Kaoru's grip to lunge towards Kyoya,

"Nala, no!"

Too late, even as the other host's screamed for me, i put my hand on Kyoya's shoulder, and the world went black.

*Author's Note!*

Yes? Yes? Yes? Or no? WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK? SEE I BROUGHT HER DAD BACK UP! Also, i hope you guys don't mind i'm screwing around with the episode timeline so much so there's days between each episode that happens, rather than them being in succession? PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU ALL THINK! Also is Nala's relationship with the hosts any better over the last few chapters? Thanks everyone for taking the time to read this! i love you all! Enjoy! And please review, or PM me!


	26. Chapter 26

The rest of the world was in black and white, but we were in screaming color. Vivid, bright, nearly blindingly vibrant color. Even from where I stood several feet away, I could see the way kyoya's dark eyes glimmered and shifted over me as he took me in, and in fine detail the rain slipping off his dark hair and down his face forcing him to take his glasses off and tuck them into his pocket.

"Kyoya?"

I took a small, hesitant step forward, looking around as i did so to see where we were. We appeared to be on the front porch of some rich person's mansion. Tall pillars of marble stretched from floor to ceiling, and the polished marble floor led to a grand oak door.

"Nala."

He nodded his head, before proceeding to turn around and start walking away down the porch if whatever grand mansion we were at.

"Hey! Wait! What're you doing?"

He didn't pause as he kept heading for the front door.

"An experiment to ascertain whether or not I should open the door."

"Door? Experiment? Open it for who?"

He practically snarled at my questions as he spun to face me.

"Stop it Nala. You're not making this any easier for me." His chest heaved as he sucked in deep, angry breaths. "I can't look at your bright, hopeful eyes and keep my door shut. I can't seem to avoid the knowledge that i'll open the damn door and won't be able to help you. So just leave!"

To say the least, I was a bit shell shocked. Kyoya had never spoken to me like this, but one more look at the turmoil raging in his eyes, and the anger that his words had caused in me slowly slipped away. Stepping forward till I was directly in front of him, I placed a hand on his shoulder, feeling the muscles tense under my hand.

"Kyoya," I sighed sadly at the look of anger and frustration on his face. "You have this incredible gift, and you don't try to change what you see. You have the ability to meet your visions half way in real life. You don't have to wait for them to slam into you as hard as they can. You can fight back! The thing is," I looked straight into his flashing eyes. "Do you have the courage to take charge of the future and what you see?"

It appeared to be his turn to be shell shocked.

"Nala..."

"Mm?"

He reached out and touched my face, running his hand through my now damp hair. His fingers were oh so soft and a small involuntary shiver ran through me at his touch.

"You're actually here...you came into my vision."

I blinked..._how did he know? For all he knows I'm a figment of this dream he's in. _As if I'd voiced My thoughts out loud, he answered them.

"First of all," he held up a finger, "you're in color, the visions almost never are, and never people. Unless, they're actually in the dream with me. Secondly," another finger went up. "You can touch me, and I can touch you, I can't touch my visions. I can only watch and listen to them."

"Oh." I blinked as I shifted uneasily under his stare. "Well that's awkward."

He surprised me, by laughing. Throwing his head back, the shadow king shocked me completely by full on laughing at my statement. His eyes were shut, his shoulders shaking, and chuckles, warm and happy, was escaping him. The sight of the normally calm, and composed Kyoya having a moment like this was enough to make me question my sanity. _Maybe i'm unconscious and having a nightmare?_ Weirdly, that didn't appear to be the case after i pinched myself and nothing happened. _Wow…_ I stared in shock at Kyoya. Finally, he must have felt my stare, because the chuckles slowly subsided, and he straightened his shoulders, his regular, rigid composure sliding back into place like a switch had been flipped. However, if i hadn't known him as well as i did now, i would have missed the glimmer of humor in his eyes.

Speaking of his eyes…

"OOTORI YOU TOOK YOUR GLASSES OFF!" Dashing forward i grabbed his face between both of my hands and pulled him down to my level so i could peer into his eyes without their shield there. "You look so different! Why, i could even swear i see humanity in those big ol' eyes of your when you aren't blocking them behind your creepy, i will flash if you piss my owner off and he wants to look scary, glasses!"

I didn't even think about the awkward position i'd put us in when i pulled him down to eye level like i had until he cleared his throat.

"Miss Fuyumi."

"Yeah?"

"_Nala_."

"Oh! Oh! Oh!" I hastily let go and scrambled back, face flaming. "Sorry i didn't even think about that…"

He shrugged, and turned away.

"It's of no matter, now, i need to go to see this vision, if you don't mind…"

He trailed off and i got the basic idea of what he wanted.

"Right, here," I turned around, "Let me just casually walk out of your magical brain ability. Be a dear and point me to the nearest exit?"

He sighed in exasperation at me.

"The sarcasm wasn't needed Miss Fuyumi, but, i see what you mean. I guess you'll just have to come with me."

"Great! But, um, where are we going, and how do we get there?"

Another half shrug.

"I'm not sure yet, but i suggest you start walking."

-V-V-V-V-V-

We did as he suggested, walking off the porch and into the rain. It was strange to say the least. It wasn't quite as black and white as i'd first thought it to be, but rather, the colors were so very pale and subtle they were almost unnoticeable, but i did notice, that as we walked, the colors began to get brighter. _I wonder what's up with that?_ I glanced at Kyoya, debating questioning him or not, but decided to put it on hold till we were back in the real world. _So this is what he goes through when he has a vision? Just dropped somewhere and searching till he finds it?_ He looked so solemn as he stared straight ahead, eyes sometimes flicking around as if searching for something, and as we walked through the gentle drizzle, my respect for him doubled.

"What did you mean earlier about taking charge of what i saw and how i reacted?"

Kyoya's question startled me, and jerked me out of my own thoughts. I frowned down at the street we were walking along, kicking a pebble ahead of me.

"I mean, i guess you're able to say you really can see what will happen, but at the same time you hold the power to change it. You only see the result of one choice, but you can always, if you have the influence anyway, make the other choice, because it could result in a different ending than the sad ones you seem to have." Tipping my head back to look up at the sky, i continued. "Everyone can make a choice after they've learned what the result will be, and it's easy for them to say they could have chosen the other way after it's happened. But, you can't know what the other choice will result in before choosing it, and there's always the possibility that it will end better."

A moment of friendly, but thoughtful silence passed before he spoke.

"You're really a strong believer in changing one's future for the better no matter what, aren't you."

It wasn't a question, but i answered anyway.

"Yeah. After everything i've gone through, and am preparing to go through, i have to believe i can make it better. If it comes down to it," I sighed sadly, my voice going from thoughtful to horribly solemn, "I will fight the fates to keep my myself and my friends safe. I won't let a silly decision, or vision, change that determination."

"Are you sure you aren't just being stubborn? You can't fight fate Nala.." I could feel him narrow his eyes on me. "You're trying to stay unscarred aren't you. If you've come this far Miss Fuyumi, you'll have to let someone get hurt eventually, or it'll hurt a lot more for all of you when it actually happens."

"Ootori," i flicked a glance at him, to find him already watching me. "You need to reject all your common sense, like that, to make the impossible possible. I threw my common sense out of the window at the age of nine, and i learned to believe in six impossible things before breakfast, every day, just so i could make it through. If i had your common sense, i wouldn't be here right now with you. You need to relax a little, and unwind, otherwise you'll never be able to see your second options."

He shrugged with a small chuckle.

"I do believe, that this will always be something we disagree on Miss Fuyumi."

I smirked up at him.

"Yeah, i think so too."

We fell back into a companionable silence, still walking through the familiar, yet different streets of the town of Ouran. The world around us was dark, even the low glow of the moon through the clouds wasn't enough to brighten it too much, yet as we walked, the colors were still becoming more and more discernable and bright.

"You know," Kyoya tipped his head to stare at me, eyes narrowed in thought. "I heard an argument go on in class between several male students the other day. Knowing your views on feminism, i thought you'd like to hear it to prove them wrong."

I grinned wickedly.

"i would like nothing more. Can i go to your class and confront them tomorrow?"

With a nod, Kyoya began telling me the story, finally summing it up with the boys final point and question.

"His final piece was this, 'Feminists say that if they walk around naked and get raped, it's not their fault. Let me ask you this, if you owned a bank and left the doors wide open with no security and you got robbed in the middle of the night, is it the robbers fault or yours?'"

My jaw had been tensing throughout the entire story at the boy's idiocy, but at this 'final point', my jaw dropped.

"Are you kidding me? Are you freaking kidding me? What an idiot! Literally the robber's fault! They walked in and took something that wasn't theirs! Dur, now it's stupid to leave the doors open, but are you kidding me? The robber should have the decency and common sense to know better than to just _take _it!"

My companion, nodded, but before he could respond, he seemed to tense up and stopped where he stood.

"We're here."

His words were quiet, but there was a sense of dread, as if he knew the vision wasn't going to be pretty. This is when things got real weird.

The street went black, street lights flickering before finally giving up the fight and going out with a sizzle and a crack. I took a step closer to Kyoya, my own body tensing as an indistinguishable feeling of dread slid over me as i suddenly saw a young woman hurry by us in the dark. It was obvious she was homeless. Her figure was all bones and skin, her hair limp and scraggly, but it was her eyes that brought tears to my own. Lack of food had made them sink back down into her face, dark circles smudge beneath them, but it was the look in them that was heart wrenching. They were so full of fear, despair, and an absolute brokenness that made me take a half step forward with my hand extended to her before Kyoya grabbed my shoulder and tugged me back next to him.

"You can't help her." His own voice was colder than ice, and so hollow as he spoke. _He's tried to before...how many times has he seen this? And struggled to help them? Not even having someone there to help him through it? He does this alone so much…._

Tears pooled in my eyes, but before i could speak, a ragged scream broke the air, Kyoya's hand tensed on my shoulder, but i felt no pain, only shock, and fear as a scream of my own ripped past my lips at the creature that reared up out of a small side alley, and ripped the woman into shreds. The last thing i saw, was her broken eyes go glassy, and the boots of a man walking up the road calling for the monster to 'heel and not attack the civilians' before we were ripped out of the vision.

I came to screaming, because not only had i seen the Waru kill an innocent woman while i stood there helpless, but a man had controlled the monster, and that man had been Officer Tokiya of the Ouran police department.

**Author's note**

Yes, i totally admit i'm slightly everywhere with this, but please trust me when i say i have a plan! I'm going places with this, and everything is going to tie together eventually, i'm just trying to pull all my loose ends into a metaphorical single thread. But, what did you guys think? See! I didn't forget Tokiya! And he's controlling one of the Waru? What? Also, what did you think of Nala being in the vision? Did that make sense? Or was it too confusing?


	27. Chapter 27

"Ah, i see, it seems the screw up fairy has decided to visit us again."

I stiffened at Ayonokoji's words. Between my lack of sleep for the past week, and everything that had happened the the day before, between Maria's call, and being in Kyoya's subsequent vision the night before, i was worn down, and not in the mood to sparr. _But,_ i glared at her, _we don't always get what we want do we? _So, in my typical fashion, i retorted with sarcasm.

"Look, i understand you want to prove your worth and manliness, but you will never be the man your mother is!" She snarled back at me, and this time, for the first time since i'd met the nasty girl, i stood up from my seat and snarled right back. "Fuck off Ayanokoji. I am not in the mood today for you and your little annoyances. Go sit in the corner or something."

She snorted, low, cynical, totally bitchy.

"Yeah, as if. Like i'd listen to a failure like you."

"Oh Ayanokoji," i began to gush, "You're such a beautiful, wonderful intelligent person," i could see the confusion at my words growing on her face as i spoke until i finished with, "Oh i'm sorry i thought we were having a lying competition."

With a low gasp, she shoved me back making me stumble into my desk. It hurt like a bitch, because i rammed my hip right into the wooden part of it and almost fell over. I somehow ended up sitting in my chair, which i was extremely glad for because it saved me the embarrassment of landing on my butt on the floor in front of the class. However, it didn't stop the slow burn of anger that pulsed through me at her dirty move, and i slowly stood up, moving a little stiffly because of my hip, i took a step towards her, my fists balled and ready to fly. _Just a few more steps and i can deck her for good, gosh that little- _

"Nala!"

The sharp voice snatched me out of my mini out for blood phase and i jerked my head around to see Kyoya standing at the door with an impatient look on his face.

"What do you want Ootori?"

His narrowed eyes slid between Ayanokoji and I, and he must've detected the low simmering rage in my voice, because his answer was calculated.

"Just come with me, i have something for you to see."

With one last dirty look at Ayanokoji, i exited the room to go with Kyoya.

"I'm not supposed to be out of class, I don't want to get in trouble over some grand scheme of yours Ootori."

He shrugged, glasses flashing as he glanced at me.

"You should know well enough by now Miss Fuyumi that i'm already five steps ahead of you there."

"Right," i rolled my eyes at his back as he made his way over to the dreaded stairs. "Now where did you say we were going again?"

He smirked, his dark eyes glimmering in the light as he stared down at me.

"I didn't, now follow me."

And he began making his way up the stairs. As he walked, i couldn't help but watch him. There was always this..tension in him, He acted like he couldn't let his guard down for even a minute, and it irked me, because the few moments of real joy i had seen him have, never lasted long. _It's like he doesn't allow himself to feel happy for long. _I narrowed my eyes on his back, and was still contemplating it, when he suddenly stopped, and turned around catching me watching him. A blush worked it's way up my face, and i began dramatically waving my hands as he smirked at me.

"Stop looking at me like that!"

He cocked an eyebrow

"I beg your pardon, but i do believe i caught _you _looking at _m_e first."

The blush got worse, i knew i was bright red by now, but i attempted to save myself.

"I wasn't looking! I was thinking!"

As soon as i spoke that i clapped a hand over my mouth, _that didn't come out right, and oh gosh he knows it. _ If his deepening smirk was any indication of that, _Ugh i messed up again..this is awkward._

"Whatever you say Nala. Now, c'mon."

He turned and began to walk up the stairs, and i scrambled to follow him. Scrambling up stairs proved not to be the greatest idea, because my foot caught as i stepped up, and with a small cry, i began to pitch forward. Right into Kyoya.

_Speaking of awkward…_ My quick reflexes had saved me, but put me in a perilous position. I was leaning with one foot barely on the stairs, my hands caught in Kyoya's jacket, and all my weight pulling him back because it was angled towards the front of my body due to the awkward position and lack of balance.

"Uhhhh, give me a second to, um, get my balance back and i'll let go...sorry…"

I was muttering, but he heard me.

"It's fine Miss Fuyumi, but i would request for you to not tear my shirt in the process."

I huffed and went to respond as i wiggled the foot that had tripped me back towards one of the stairs to anchor myself, when i heard,

"Nala?"

Freezing, i oh so slowly turned to my head find Kaoru standing at the base of the stairs, a few feet away from where Kyoya and i were. An awkward grin crept over my face.

"Uh hey Kaoru….um, i slipped…" _Well that sure sounded convincing… wait...why do i even feel guilty for him seeing me fall over? Gosh i'm losing my mind. _There was this look in his bright golden eyes, this numb, dull, sad look. It flashed through for a moment before disappearing, but the sight of it put an awkward hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach. "Care to help me up?"

With a nod, he stepped forward and slipped up behind me, putting an arm under me around my waist to pull me up and back towards him.

"Thank-"

I broke off in confusion at the look that was passing between Kyoya and Kaoru. It came from Kaoru, but Kyoya didn't seem phased by the challenge in our friend's eyes. His smirk merely deepened as he stared at the twin holding me against him, as i glanced between the two. _Did they have a fight outside of school or something? This isn't normal for them..._ A low growl rumbled in Kaoru's chest, and he took a half step forward. _Why is Ootori keeping eye contact with a clearly stressed out tiger!? Isn't that like fighting for dominance!? _I shot him a glare. The boy behind me seemed intent on going all the way as he took another step, until of course, i jabbed my elbow into his side.

"Stop it! Both of you right now! You, Ootori, stop jerking his chain, and Kaoru stop relying on what i'm assuming are your animal instincts." I jerked away from both of them to stand in the middle, with my hands on my hip. "This is ridiculous. No more fighting! You guys are friends, and it's getting very annoying, especially," I turned my scathing green glare onto the twin, "When you treat me like a possession, and when you," It was now on Kyoya. "Rattle my friends chains and screw with their heads! We're family, and i know fighting happens in families, but this? This is freaking ridiculous and i won't have any more of it between you two. Do you both understand? I'm sick of the dirty looks i catch you guys sending each other's way during the day."

They both seemed a little shocked at my outburst, and stern lecture, but i ignore it. Instead tapping my foot on the ground while crossing my arms.

"I'm waiting for an answer guys." There was a mumbled yes from the twin, and Kyoya merely nodded his head as he pulled his regular blank look. "Good, now," I turned to Kaoru, "Shouldn't you be in class?"

"Yeah, i was headed to the bathroom when i thought i saw you and the shadow lord and followed."

I nodded and turned to Kyoya.

"And you Ootori, where the hell are you taking me? After yesterday and last night you should know i'm not in the mood for surprises."

Actually, since last night, i'd decided i never wanted to bother with surprises again. After we'd gotten out of the vision, I'd spent the night freaking out, and Haruhi had had the hosts stay over with us at her house for extra protection. There had been no more talking last night when i came to screaming, just hugs, and soft words of comfort. Now today, with Ayanokoji and now this, my temper had been riled up, and i was almost at the tipping point.

"Trust me Nala."

Kaoru was glancing between us, and again that hollow expression flickered in his eyes before disappearing.

"I don't really have a lot of trust to go around these days Ootori."

I placed a hand on my hip, cocking my head at him. Kyoya lifted a hand and held it out to me palm up, fingers unfurled.

"Do you trust me?"

_Gosh he's relentless_. My green eyes slid over his face taking in all the familiar nuances in it, and i let out a small sigh. _Of course he knows i do. _With that in mind, i lifted my hand off my hip, and slowly, my eyes holding his, i placed my hand in his outstretched one. That was all the answer he needed. Suddenly Kaoru turned and stormed away from where he'd been standing at my other side only moments ago, and with my heart pounding in my chest, i knew i had made the decision of who my loyalties were to, and he knew it if the misery on his face was anything to go by.

_I'm sorry Kaoru. Please forgive me._

My eyes slid from his retreating form to look again at Kyoya's dark eyes.

"Now Ootori, what did you have planned?"

He smirked, his glasses flashing.

"You'll see."

-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-

"The beach?"

Haruhi and i spoke in sync as the car that we'd been dragged to, her by the twins, and me by Kyoya, stopped and we were let out. We had barely stepped out of the car when the twins started frowning and squinting.

"So, why Okinawa?"

Tamaki rolled his eyes af it should've been obvious.

"Kyoya's folks have a private beach here."

Honey pranced over to Haruhi and i as we stood a little to the side to take in the gorgeous beach. The soft, stormy blue of the ocean was the same color of Maddy's eyes, and i smiled ruefully. It had been a long time since i'd been to a beach because of that reason. _But_, i pushed my melancholy thoughts away, _She'll be here in a few weeks so i don't have a reason not to go the beach anymore! _Honey must've sensed my mood, because he smiled up at me, and spoke cheerfully.

It's a beautiful place, huh?"

"Yeah!"

Surprised, i blinked over at Mori who'd spoken in sync with me in response to Honey's query, but i shot him a grin. The twins ruined the moment however, by complaining.

"But, as long as we're going somewhere, why not the Caribbean, or...Fiji?"

Kyoya rolled his eyes, his glasses flashing.

"Do you honestly think Nala, and Haruhi have passports?"

_Uhh….of course i have a passport...not that it's been updated recently, but i have one…_

"Ahhh."

The twins nodded in understanding, and i turned to Haruhi to make a joke about their short insight on 'commoners', only to be stopped dead in my tracks when she thanked Kyoya for his thoughtfulness.

"You actually don't have one!?"

She blinked big brown doe eyes at me, and shook her head ruefully. _Wow…_

All of twenty minutes later found the twins playing volleyball, Honey running up and down the beach while Mori watched over him, Kyoya being the typical shadow lord sitting under a beach umbrella, and Tamaki out on a rock…...with one of his regular host club customers.

Haruhi didn't look happy, and while i doubt she noticed her eyes kept straying to a certain blond boy sitting on a rock, flirting up a storm with the line of girls that stretched out behind it. Jealously briefly flared in her eyes before she looked away towards the twins. _Alright, looks like it's time for me to employ my best friend tactics. _So, in the name of friendship, i delicately stepped over a crab that had placed itself between our two beach towels, and plopped down next to her.

"Alright mental twin of mine, speak and i shalt listen!"

She gave me a blank look, and i rolled my eyes poking her in the arm.

"C'mon dude what's bothering you, you're practically radiating discontent."

She shrugged, but she couldn't hide the sadness in her eyes as they flicked back to Tamaki, before resting on me again.

"Why are we conducting host club activities here at the beach?"

_There's my girl! Straight to the point! _I cocked my head, and gazing out at the vast expanse of ocean, began to swirl designs into the sand with my fingers.

"Well Haru, i can't really answer that for sure, i don't think Ootori had planned on it either, i'm pretty sure the tenacious pests...er, i mean girls caught wind of the scheme and showed up here. So don't go blaming Tamaki for planning this or something, you know how hard it is for him to keep his mouth shut. I would just focus on the fact that yeah, the girls may be here, but your friends are all here to. Speaking of friends look at Honey-senpai running over here!"

He was grinning widely, his eyes lit up and sparkling as he stopped in front of us. _He just ran across the beach...and he's not even winded…._I stared up at him in awe. _What super human priest power is this!? Cause sign me up!"_

Before he could speak, shadows fell over us from behind, and three of Haruhi's regulars were smiling down at her.

"Haruhi-kun, aren't you going to swim?"

She seemed flabbergasted for a moment, before catching herself and smiling back up at them.

"I really prefer to look at the water than be in it."

"Oh! In that case, can we join you?"

My eyes flicked over the three girls, but it was the one who was talking that caught my attention. Mainly because she looked eerily like me. With her long brown hair, and dark green eyes, we even shared a similar face shape, and to be honest it was slightly disturbing. _How have i missed having a look a like at school? Especially if she comes to the host club!? _Haruhi saved me from having to step away by staring up at the girls with a another soft smile.

"How come? Go ahead and swim, you're wearing such cute swimsuits and all."

Anyone with a brain would see Haruhi was just stating a fact, but the three lovestruck.._.or would that be host struck? _girls danced away with hearts in their eyes to frolick in the water.

Sudden coughing from nearby had me spinning to find Tamaki doubled over with a major nosebleed as the twins began chanting about him being a perv.

"Oh, he's just being creepy again. I bet he was having another weird brain theater movie in his head starring you and him, and judging by that nosebleed, it was less than clean."

Haruhi nodded solemnly as she glared at her somewhat boyfriend vampire as he bled all over the beach, but a blush burned over her face as his eyes flicked up to meet hers, and she hastily looked away.

A soft smile slid over my face, but i turned to Honey rather than teasing Haruhi about it.

"Hey there Honey-senpai! Sorry to keep you waiting cause of those girls, but thanks for being patient!"

He beamed down at Haru and I.

"Let's go hellfish hunting!"

He danced around in place with a merry smile and i couldn't help but grin at his exuberance. _He's like a little blond leprechaun. _Haruhi sweat dropped.

"I think you mean shellfish hunting, and i've never heard of someone going shellfish hunting...anywhere like this…."

I whacked her on the back, forcing a cough out of her and whispering under my breath,

"Shh let him have his dreams...WWWAAAA!"

I promptly burst out screaming, and leapt up the pole of the umbrella as hundreds upon hundreds of shellfish creatures came crawling up the beach.

"WHAT IS THIS!?"

Haruhi was screaming her words in shock as they crawled around her further up the beach. I was just glad we had pitched out stuff close to the water because there was a good distance between us and the other girls and hosts up the beach. _They crawl, they crawl, they crawl, they crawl. _My repeated mantra had me shaking in fear, causing the umbrella under me to shake.

Haruhi was brimming with happiness as she and Honey started to rapidly converse in low tones. _Wait, _I looked around in confusion. In a matter of moments, Honey and Haruhi had rounded up the crabs crawling up the shore and had them in buckets practically bigger than they were. I slowly allowed myself to ease of the umbrella and tiptoe closer to them to sit on the edge of the massive rock formation that stretched up like a small mountain above us, but it seemed a safe place to sit to avoid the shellfish.

"Ya know," i spoke to Haruhi and Honey. "I think i like Honey's term of hellfish better than shellfish. Cause i swear they crawled out of the depths of hell."

Before she could respond however, Tamaki himself was their making crab puns, but what he failed to notice on his crab, was the massive centipede crawling over it towards his hand. UNtil…

"Cen…"

"ti…"

"PEDE!"

Cue the screaming from all parties. Granted i would've been screaming if it had been me holding it, but since it wasn't anywhere near me, i didn't bother. I watched with the interest of someone who, well, isn't interested, but it slightly worried the culprit of everyone's fear would be thrown at her. It had happened before, because Haruhi had a bad habit of throwing the bugs in my direction when she took care of them. I snorted. _Some people are chick magnets, but then there's me, the bug magnet. _

Sure enough, a moment later found me leaping off the rock with a muffled shriek as Haruhi unconsciously chucked it in my direction to get rid of it.

"HARUHI!"

I gave a muffled shriek as it crawled away deeper into the rocks, and secretly sent the creepy bug a death look. Turning back, i found the twins with their arms around Haruhi, and the crowd of girls slowly creeping closer to my cousin with hearts in their eyes.

"Haruhi-kun is so manly!"

The words of one girl, set off a chorus of shrieks from the others, and the twins began to creep away as the girls swamped my cousin.

"Nala-chan!"

I turned to find my regular Kana standing with two other girls, one of them being my look a like, and the other being a quiet looking blond girl with gentle lamb eyes that were trained on me in expectation.

"Hai Kana?"

I grinned at the girl i couldn't help it, i had liked her ever since she helped me out by getting her friend to confess to being abused.

"We're going for a walk down the beach, would you care to join us?"

I smiled happily, so far no one had asked me to perform my hostly duties today, but this looked like it would be nice since it was just a small group with the one girl who attended the club that i could stand.

"That sounds awesome! Lead the way!"


	28. Chapter 28

I had been strolling down the beach with the three girls, chatting and laughing, and ignoring the weird looks they had been giving me, assuming it was because i wasn't wearing a swimsuit rather choosing short shorts and a tank top, for almost an hour, when i noticed something odd.

"Excuse me ladies, i need to check on something."

And without waiting for them to respond, i dashed down the beach.

When i came to a halt next to what had caught my attention, i began to circle the giant, ominous looking black truck that was just standing there on the beach. Stopping by the cab of it at the front, i looked up and in a move that would've made Kyoya proud, quirked an eyebrow.

"What on earth…"

I whispered the words to myself, and would have been lying if i said my anxiety didn't jump just a bit at the sight of the intimidating vehicle that stood silent and alone on the beach. However, just as quickly as it was there, it was gone. _The hosts are my family, and they've promised to protect me. Also_, I flicked another glance at the giant black, truck, _Ootori would've seen and noticed this by now, so if it's here it's here for a reason, but i do think i'll ask him._ A shiver of foreboding stole over me, creeping up my legs, and runnings it's chilly fingers over my spine. Attempting to ignore the goosebumps that had appeared on my skin, i went to walk away, when Honey's cheerful voice from the back of the truck stopped me.

"Haru-chan! Over here! Over here!"

Confusion swamped me, and i didn't waste a moment sprinting to the back of the truck. Only to find it opened, with Honey standing at it's edge waving to Haru while little flowers danced around him, and several of the Ootori's personal police force standing ready at hand. _They must be hot...they're wearing their full uniforms...youch..._

Haruhi was staring up at Honey in confusion as well.

"Um...is this thing even allowed to be on the beach?"

Seconding her question to Honey, i turned to the twins who were standing nearby, and repeated it to them. Adding the elusive 'what's going on' to my question as well. They surprised me, by turning, with identical grins, and tugging me a few steps away. Leaning on close like a football huddle, they pulled me down with them and began talking in their weird way. Out of sync, then in sync.

"Well ya see Nala…"

"We're doing a fear test…

"Because none of us know what Haruhi is afraid of."

I blinked. Then blinked again. Suddenly, a snort slipped out of me before i could stop it, and i started to chuckle.

"You guys are all idiots."

"Nnnaalllaaaa!"

They gave me identical pouty looks, which surprised me slightly after how Kaoru had acted earlier with Kyoya and I, but i rolled with it. Shaking my head i stood up straight, just in time to watch the door to the truck bed roll shut…._with Honey and Haruhi inside it?_

Choosing to ignore that, i turned back to the twins.

"Trust me guys, it'll be a fail. Nothing scares Haruhi. Remember what went down with my...father at the police station? That didn't even phase her! She doesn't have enough common sense to be afraid of anything, and what she is afraid of doesn't take common sense. You won't figure it out!"

I danced away as i sang out those last words, and laughed at the twins as they groaned at my cryptic saying. I only laughed harder when the truck began to shake and we all heard Honey screaming,

"It's dark and scary in here!"

_Poor Honey-kun...putting himself through his own worst fear to try to find hers...honestly those boys. Smirking, i glanced up at the cloudless sky, and the sun just starting to barely sink in the distance. Last i checked, the worst thing they can do is suck a person's blood and make magic fog. I doubt they can call thunderstorms over here..._I broke out of my thoughts as i saw the girls i'd been walking with running up to me again!

"Nal-chan! We saw you walking away and thought you might like to join us again?"

I grinned at my look a like as she spoke, Hell she even kinda sounds like me. but agreed to go with them.

"Where are we going this time?"

Kana grinned at me, and pointed to the giant rock formation that towered over the beach. It was my turn to grin as i fist pumped the air.

"Awesome!"

I all but scrambled up the rock face, helping the girls as they needed help, and laughing with them at how horrible we were at getting up a simple rock, because by the time we reached the top, the sun was setting.

Laughing, i danced to the edge of the rock ignoring the girls calls of warning, and shutting my eyes, i tipped my head back to smile up at the sky as i let the wind tug my hair too and fro.

"It's beautiful up here isn't it Nal-chan?"

Cracking an eye open, i glanced back at Kana and nodded.

"Yes! It's wonderful! I've never had a view of the ocean like this!"

She smiled at me, her eyes softening as she took in the look of joy I knew was on my face.

"The breeze up here is wonderful!"

The quieter girl spoke softly, but her eyes were full of joy too. There was a brief moment of silence as we all got lost in our own thoughts with the ocean stretching out forever in front of us, and the wind teasing our hair with its gentle fingers. The silence didn't last long however as a coarse, rough voice broke the silence.

"Oho! There's girls up here!"

Spinning, I teetered for a moment at the edge, before managing to right myself and step in front of the girls. Two college aged guys had snuck up on us. Narrowed eyes and greasy hair were unappealing to say the least, but it was their leering eyes and domineering sneers that took the cake.

The guy who had spoken flipped the hood down on his hoodie vest and began eyeing up Kana and my look alike, while his friend sauntered forward.

"Hey girls, let's play together."

I didn't move to confront him, but I didn't step back either which forced him to stop in front of me. Cocking my head to look up at him I sneered, my lips curling to reveal my teeth.

"Sorry buddy, but we're set so feel free to fuck off. Or, better yet, your friend their looks lonely so go take your gay self and screw with him rather than with our heads. Thanks, now bye bye."

He stared at me in surprise, as well as his friend, before nasty snarls darkened their faces. The one guy was all up in my personal space, and for a moment I couldn't breathe as a flashback of angry hands grabbing me ran through my head, but I shoved the thoughts away. There would be time to panic later, and as for now, I had to keep the girls safe. Kana spoke up from behind me, dragging their attention from me to her.

"What are you guys doing here? This is a private beach you need to leave."

The guy in front of me brushed by me and bent a little to capture her chin in his hand.

"Who cares about that? It must be lonely just having girls around huh?"

"Please stop!"

Her voice was full of horror as his hand started to slide down her neck.

*SLAP*

Everyone stared in shock at where my hand now was. I had slid a step back, and slapped his hand away as it had slipped lower onto Kana's chest.

"The lady asked you to leave you douchebag. Now walk away."

"What does that mean sweetheart?"

Creep number two ran around behind me to pull the other two girls into a hug. I slow, wicked grin slid over my face, and I tilted my head back to stare at them with narrowed eyes.

"It means this."

So saying, I let out an ear piercing scream. It had the guys leaping away from the girls in shock, but sadly no one on the beach seemed to notice because they were too far away watching the fear test go on. .

"Why you!" The guy who had been touching Kana hit me. Hard. "Why'd you go doing that? You've ruined our play time." He narrowed his eyes on me and jerked his head at his friend who came to stand beside him. Effectively backing me up to the edge of the cliff, the first guy leaned closer. "We'll just have to make it faster than we wanted to."

"Would you go away now? You're bothering us, and we did ask nicely."

My voice was scathing, but as I spoke I wiggled my fingers at the girls to run, and run they did. All three of them scrambled down the narrow path like mountain goats screaming at the tops of their lungs.

Gradually their screaming faded as they got further away, but that left me alone at the top, with the two guys.

Our of the corner of my eye, I saw the girls sprinting down the beach, Kana in the lead, and heading straight for the hosts, and internally I smiled. Good. At least one of us can get out of this. I was pulled out of my thoughts, by the guy gripping the front of my shirt and tugging me closer.

"Now that we have you alone..." He trailed off smirking, and a shiver ran through me at what I thought he was going to say. "You've been a helluva lot of trouble to get a hold of. Nala." I went stalk still.

"What're you talking about?"

He grinned wider, and I had to wrinkle my nose at the offensive odor coming off his body and from his mouth.

"I mean, that there's people payin a lotta money to find you and had you returned to them. When we saw you up here from down the beach, we couldn't believe our luck." His eyes roamed up and down my body again making me want to claw his eyes out. "Of course it was an added bonus that you're cute, and we're allowed to play with you before we return you to the ones up top."

"It's kind of hard to return something that was never owned in the first place." And so saying, I stomped down on the instep of his foot before bringing my knee up, hard.

He let go of me with a howl of pain. Doubling over in agony. Of course, that just meant his friend go to take over. Hoodie vest dude grabbed me by the upper arms and shoved me backwards. Almost off the edge of the cliff. My grip on him, and his grip on my shoulders was all that was holding me up as I balanced precariously over the edge.

"Don't go trying to act tough when you're just a sissy girl." He laughed. "What's with these spindly arms? Bitch, you should just go swimming in the ocean."

"Yeah?" I let a smirk slide over my face despite my almost mind numbing fear. "Well if I go, then you're coming to." And so saying, I let go with one of my hands, slugged him in the face, and tried to yank him backwards.

However, my grip on him slipped, and with a small horrified cry, I fell off the cliff edge and began to plummet toward the water below.

I could've sworn that as I fell I heard someone shriek my name, but I only had one thought on my mind.

_I can't swim._


	29. Chapter 29

The water was so cold. It seemed to seep through my skin until it's chilly hands embraced my very bones. My eyes were wide open, _are they supposed to be open? _I wasn't sure, but if this was dying, then i was totally at peace with the calm way of going out of the world. I could see the sun outside of the water, it was sinking low, and leaving the sky a beautiful deep pink and purple as it sank. I smiled softly to myself as i stared up at it. _I should probably be freaking out right? Why aren't i scared? _Because i truly wasn't afraid. Maybe it was the shock of hitting the freezing cold water after the man's words and threats to me, but i felt nothing. All that i felt was physical. The brush of my hair against my face as i sank lower into the chilly water, and my hands reaching out towards the surface as if i could grab the sun that was shimmering in the water above me.

I gave the world high above me another watery smile, and shut my eyes to accept my fate. _I'm coming mama._

Someone grabbed my hand. _No! Wait! What're you doing!? _My eyes snapped open, and i caught a flash of blond shimmering hair waving around a pale, beautiful face as Tamaki pulled me closer to him and began to kick for the surface. The feel of his cool hand against my skin snapped me out of whatever shock induced prepared to die phase i'd been in, and i began to thrash violently in the water as i let loose a scream. Of course, screaming failed and i only sucked in a lungful of water, and my thrashing was pulling Tamaki and i both down, but Tamaki grabbed my shoulder and pulled me to face him, forcing me to pause my movements.

His violet eyes were serious as he shook his head at me, and began kicking for the surface again after making sure i wasn't going to panic more. I let myself stay limp in his grasp, which really wasn't that hard, because my vision was starting to go blurry when we burst through to the surface, and i was suddenly being dropped onto a beach as someone forced the water out of my lungs.

I came to coughing and shivering violently, and had to roll to my side to throw up the water let inside of me. Gagging, i continued retching for a few moments longer, before i finally stopped and just knelt there, my dripping wet hair hanging in front of my face as i forced back tears. I could feel the stares of the hosts as they stood around me, and for some reason, fear bubbled up inside of me at the silence coming from them. It filled me with a cold dread despite the heat from the setting sun at my back. _Why do i get the feeling they're mad…?_

Tamaki finally broke the silence.

"Where are they?"

"We took their I.D. cards and took them into..._custody_." Kyoya's voice was calm, soothing even in the growing tension between myself and the hosts as they talked over me. "The girls all went back to the hotel."

Kyoya stopped talking, and it went quiet again. It gave me a moment to truly appreciate the beach. The ocean looked golden as the rays if the setting sun shimmered over it, and the long and empty beach was silent, and inviting. The world was painted gold in that moment, but the angry stares from the hosts shattered it's molten warmth and filled it was a cold unease.

"I've called a doctor who should be here shortly." Kyoya's frosty glare landed on me, and i finally found my voice at those words.

"Guys, i'm fine. We don't need a doctor."

Oh how i regretted those words the moment i spoke, because even as they slipped from my mouth, the cold eyes of the hosts finally landed on me for real. Their stares burned into me, and Haruhi frowned at me from where she stood to the side.

"Are you one of those?"

Her words were stern.

"Um, excuse me? One of what?"

Now Tamaki spoke, stepping up behind her and placing his hands on her shoulders, his unhappy eyes looked down at me where i was now sitting in the sand.

"A martial arts master like Honey-senpai?" Now he stepped around Haruhi to kneel in front of me, his normal purple eyes nearly black with displeasure. "What did you think you, a girl, could do against them by yourself?"

At his words, it was my turn to be angry.

"A girl!? A GIRL!? Wow Tamaki." I glared right back at him, and launched myself to my feet, trying to ignore the sickening rush of blood to my head from the sudden movement. "This has nothing to do with me being a girl! Damn it guys!" I spun to face the rest of the hosts, my one turning pleading as i implored them to see from my point of view. "I was there, no guys were! There were no guys there to defend us, so i did what i had to! Just because i'm girl doesn't mean i can't defend myself! I've been doing fine so far without the need of a guy, and i won't stand by and wait for one to come and rescue me."

"Think about it you idiot! You're a girl! Even if you were there you couldn't have done anything to help the situation, you were only able to make it worse by harassing them!"

I spluttered at that.

"Harassing them!? Who on earth told you that!"

Kyoya cleared his throat and i turned to face him as he pushed his glasses up, causing them to flash as the dimming light hit them.

"The girls who came and told us, one Kana i do believe? Told us how you were leading them on to get them to leave the girls alone long enough to escape. While a good idea it might seem, it was incredibly foolish of you to risk yourself like that. And," another flash of his glasses as his already stern voice grew sterner, "If i remember correctly, it was a group of _men _who helped save you from your father, and yes, while it has been men after you, and in this situation as well, who was it who saved you Miss Fuyumi?"

I flinched, but could see he was waiting for me to answer, so in a begrudging mutter, i snapped.

"A group of guys."

"And who has been by your side through everything?"

Another mutter.

"A group of guys." I could see Kyoya's eyes soften as i stared at him stubbornly, and something told me he saw right through my show of bravado to the shaking ball of fear that i was underneath, and i was unable to meet his eyes as they softened as he stared at me so i forced my eyes to look anywhere but his. "I will apologize for making you guys come after me like this again. However," I met Tamaki's, and then Haruhi's eyes. "I will not apologize for defending girls who couldn't defend themselves." My eyes caught Haruhi's and stayed on her's. "I can't understand though, why you're upset with me, when i know you would've done the same thing. I haven't done anything wrong!"

Tamaki stepped away from me, his hair dropping in front of his eyes to hide them from mine.

"You haven't huh? Then you go right ahead and believe that. I'm not speaking to you again until you admit you're wrong, and realize how much you scared your best friend."

Guilt flickered through me at that, but my stubbornness won out, and i remained silent even as the hosts finally walked away from me back towards the Ootori family villa.

I trailed behind them in silence, my head down, my hair in my face, as i realized, that perhaps, just perhaps, i may have been wrong in this situation.

*v*v*v*v*v*v*

"Ta-da! The crabs are all boiled! See?"

Honey unceremoniously stuck a plate of crabs under my face as he announced this to all of us.

"Err thank you Honey, but i'm not really a fan of seafood so i'll pass this one on to Haru…."

So saying, i took the plate and passed it on to my best friend. She gave me a bright smile, and took the plate from me. She and I had had a brief chance to talk before dinner, and she'd agreed with me that what i'd done was the right thing at the time, and that she wasn't upset with me anymore it had just been because she'd been so worried that she had snapped at me, but we were on good terms again.

Tamaki on the other hand, was still not speaking to me, and was awkwardly enough seated directly across from me on the table. Kyoya walked in while i was studiously avoiding Tamaki's eyes, and spoke to Honey. Something about him being sorry the maids weren't at the villa that week, but Honey just smiled and said that he and Mori had had a fun time cooking the seafood.

"It's awfully gloomy out there neh? It looks like it might rain."

Honey's words had me glancing out the window with a small smile flickering onto my face. _Maddy adores the rain, i can't wait for her to get here. Only a few weeks left to go! _

"Speaking of gloomy," My attention was yanked from the storm starting to brew outside, to the twins as they spoke in sync. "There's someone even more gloomy in here than the darkness outside."

"Honestly boss," Kaoru spoke up, "If you're going to mope like that,"

"Than you shouldn't have picked a fight with Nala." Hikaru finished his brother's sentence.

"Darn straight he shouldn't have."

I muttered the words to myself, but Haruhi kicked my leg under the table for saying them.

"Shall we all sit down to eat?"

Kyoya's words slipped through some of the tension, and the twins and Mori joined us at the table.

The tension didn't dissipate at all like i had hoped it would. Tamaki's annoyance with me was blatantly obvious with how he watched me with narrowed eyes as he drank what i was hoping was wine from a glass, but something told me it wasn't wine, which in turn had my stomach turning too much too look at him. Haruhi was unusually silent since the boss was being silent, and Mori was as quiet as ever while Honey watched Tamaki and i warily. The twins decided to break the tension, or, at least tried to.

"The air is stuffy, eh?"

"It's kind of tense in here."

"When no one responded to their attempt at small talk, Honey turned to Haruhi on her other side and gave a weak smile.

"Let's eat neh?"

And proceeded to stick the plate of crabs under her nose. She instantly snagged the giant plate of crab legs, and had at it, while on her other side i poked with my fork at my empty plate as my stomach rumbled its displeasure at me for not eating the food. However, just the thought of eating the seafood had my stomach flip-flopping with distaste. I'd never been able to stomach seafood, it was an absolutely disgusting type of food to me, and i had never been able to get down more than a few bites before my stomach rebelled against me. So i was more than willing to wait and sneak down to grab something to snack on later.

Each time that Haruhi snapped a crab leg, and i dragged my fork along my empty plate, the tension in Tamaki visibly rose a notch, until, finally….

"Aren't you eating too much? You'll get sick." That was directed to Haruhi, before he turned to me and said, "Do you have to drag your fork like that? You're acting like a child."

"Oh? I thought you weren't speaking to me?"

"And since when do you get to tell me what to eat and not eat?"

Tamaki winced, and the tension grew in the room before….

*Snap*

*Sccrrraaappeee*

Tamaki stood and slammed his hand down on the table so hard that it shook and there was a cracking noise.

"Alright, i get it. You're not going to apologize for what you did, and now you have Haruhi siding with you. Fine, i'm going to bed. Kyoya, show me to my room."

So saying, Tamaki stormed out of the room as Kyoya gracefully excused himself, rose, and followed.

I listlessly dropped my fork as i felt unwanted tears gather in my eyes. Haruhi saw, and putting down the crab leg she was about to snap, placed a hand on top of mine.

"Maybe i really should learn to defend myself properly."

My voice was thick as i held back the tears.

"Oh. So it is bothering you."

The twins spoke carelessly, but i snapped back at them.

"Of course i care! I care about Tamaki! Weird vampireness and all he's still my friend!"

Kaoru narrowed his golden eyes at me, and rested his chin on his fist.

"To be honest, i wish you'd reconsider how rashly you acted today."

"Did i really make that much trouble for you guys?"

Surprise filtered through me. I didn't realize they'd all been so upset, i thought it had just been Tamaki overreacting again.

"That's not true Nal-chan! But you should tell everyone sorry, neh?" Honey's sweet childish voice slammed into me when he spoke, and my eyes grew wide. _I'm such an idiot. _"Understand? And tell Tama-chan you're sorry too for worrying him so much?"

"You guys were all worried about me?"

My eyes scanned the faces of the guys i'd come to see as family, and my heart began to pound harder in my chest.

"Can you believe this girl?"

The twins yawned, and Honey beamed up at me from where he had come over to my side while talking, while Mori nodded sagely behind him.

"Oh…" My eyes dropped to the table as i mentally berated myself. "I'm sorry guys." My voice was solemn, "I didn't mean to worry you all."

"Awww what for you little mutt."

Suddenly, all the hosts were there hugging me. Honey was wrapped around my legs, there was a twin on each side of me, Mori was behind me patting my head, and Haruhi hugged me from the front, her arms around my neck.

"You're so cute we forgive you!"

Suddenly, Haruhi went slightly limp, and her face turned blue.

"Wahhh! Haru!" I grabbed her face between my hands and got up real close. "What's wrong!?"

"I don't feel so good…"

"Kyyyahhh!"

I leapt back from her and grabbing her hand tugged her to a bathroom as fast as possible, with the other hosts following behind shouting about calling a doctor and overeating.

*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*

Several hours after i shoved Haruhi into a random bathroom and left her to her own devices so i could hunt up food, i found myself horribly lost. I had failed in finding a kitchen, or a pantry, failed in finding Haruhi's room to be with her since there was a thunderstorm roaring outside, and failed to get to a room that had a flashlight of some sort since the power had gone out.

"Gosh damn it!" I groaned into my hands as i stood by one of the floor to ceiling windows in the house. "Why is everything that Ootori owns or does so bloody confusing!"

Stepping away from the window, i took one look down the long hall on either side, before leaping back into the safety of the dim light that was filtering through the window. I was terrified of the dark, and this house was scary dark. It didn't help that the power was out, and i couldn't even turn a single light on.

_Just don't freak out, the power will come back on eventually, i just need to stay here and not freak out...yeah...breathing is good...breathing is…. _

I didn't finish that thought, because lightening flashed and i saw glowing eyes coming near to me from down the hall, so with a shriek i leapt up and dashed through the nearest door. It was a bedroom of some sort and i leapt onto the bed and burrowed under the covers. Then, the covers began to move.

_Why is the bed moving!? I'm not moving! SO WHY IS THE BED MOVING!?_

I clamped a hand over my mouth to keep from shrieking, but a whimper still got through.

"Shut up." The snappy male voice had me stiffening. I had somehow landed in bed with that blasted Ootori spawn. "Gosh you're so loud."

I opened my mouth to apologize and scoot off the bed, when a muffled snorting noise had me nearly choking on my own laughter. Kyoya was talking in his sleep! With another muffled snort, he rolled over again, and i snickered silently to myself. I was still snickering, until he moved again, and i found myself being pinned to the bed as he wrapped his arms around me and buried his face in my hair. I let out a squeak, and could feel my face turning bright, neon red. _Oh crap._

I could feel each soft puff of his breath against the back of my neck, and where he had his arms wrapped around me my skin burned. Pressed against the hard line of his body like i was, it left very little to the imagination, and i felt my horror grow as he nuzzled his nose against my neck.

_Oh sweet mother of pearl i need help, or to take a vow of abstinence, or a vow to avoid tall guys, with dark eyes that seem to look right through my soul. And twins, I'll throw the twin's at Maddy to take care of because heaven knows she would know how to do it. _

At this point i knew i was mentally rambling, but it was the only way i was able to keep myself sane and not go crazy from being stuck in the arms of a guy who i was beginning to realize i may or may not have a small crush on.

_Wait….WHAT!? NO! I REFUSE! I cannot have a thing for my boss! DAMN IT! I HAVE TO GET OUT OF THIS ROOM! Obviously being in the same area with him has addled my brain cells. Gosh i even sound like him in my head now. _

"Ootori? _Ootori!" _

I hissed his name out, but he didn't move. Finally, in a desperate move, i elbowed him in the side. Hard.

With a snarl that would've rivaled one of the twins own, Kyoya jolted awake with such a deadly aura around him i scooted back so fast that i fell off the bed.

"What, are you doing here?"

There was none of his usual calm in his voice, he sounded like the voice of death.

"Uh, ha...ha…" I chuckled awkwardly. "It's a long story…"

His aura grew darker as he recognized my voice.

"Miss Fuyumi," I winced at the anger in his voice, "I do not take kindly to being woken up suddenly at such an early hour in the morning. Nor do i enjoy finding someone in my bed attacking me."

I winced again, and reaching back awkwardly scratched the back of my head as i stared up at him.

"Would you believe me if i said i was scared of the dark, and got lost because i have a horrible sense of direction, and saw glowy eyes and ran into the nearest room and leapt onto the bed to hide but you were there already, and apparently this is your room…?"

I trailed off as his aura grew darker.

"Miss Fuyumi. What you saw was probably one of the twins walking late at night in their tiger form. As to you getting lost that is your own fault and i can't fix the fact that you have a horrible sense of direction and are afraid of the dark. Now," he glanced at his watch. "It is one in the morning, and i am not leaving my bed to escort you back to your room because i do actually enjoy my sleep, so that leaves you two options." He glanced out the window at the raging storm. "With the intensity of this storm, i'm assuming that the power is out, and because of that, the first of your options is to leave here unescorted and find your way back by yourself." I shuddered at the thought and unconsciously scooted closer to the bed. "The second option, is that you stay in the room and share the bed with me for the remainder of the night."

At those words i scrambled back so fast that i slammed into the bookshelf on the opposite end of the room with a thud. _WHAT KIND OF OPTIONS ARE THESE!? I'm terrified of both of them damn it! _I scowled at him and his dark aura. _Nasty spawn! He knows that those are both awful options, but, _A glance around the dark room had me start scooting back towards the bed, _I'm not trying my luck out there in this giant, dark, scary house. _With that thought, i slowly stood up, and tiptoed to the edge of the bed where i sat down and glared at him.

"Now listen here Ootori, you and I both know that these are bad options, but i'm choosing the lesser of the two evils and sharing the bed with you. But," My stern look intensified. "Try anything on me while i'm sleeping and they'll never find your body. We clear?"

He flopped onto his back with a muttered, 'crystal' and promptly began to quietly snore away.

"Jerk."

I muttered the word at his already sleeping form, before tentatively slipping under the covers, rolling so i faced away from Ootori, and shut my eyes before slipping into a deep sleep.

*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V

When i woke up the next morning, Kyoya was already gone, and i found my bag neatly packed on the floor next to the bed with a change of clothes lying on top. With a snort, i slid out of bed and went to the bathroom to shower and change.

_Thoughtful Ootori, very thoughtful._

After i stepped out of the shower, i was surprised upon finding a note tucked into the pocket of my shorts with directions on how to get to the kitchen downstairs, and the front door.

Following these, i was downstairs munching on an apple within minutes as i made my way outside, also, while i was in the kitchen Tamaki ran in, and after a brief moment of awkward silence i apologized to him. Within seconds he was hugging me and cooing about his darling daughter. I was forced to kick him out of the room so i could eat in peace. It was easier finding my way to the front door, because the typical yelling between the boss and the twins was going on, and it carried through the house.

"What was it this time?"

I sidled up next to Haruhi as i watched her scowl at Tamaki.

"The boss was being a creep."

The twins chorused and grinned at me.

"How…?"

I watched Tamaki warily as i slid into the car behind a fuming Haruhi.

"He was teaching Haruhi some...dirty things."

My eyebrows flew up as Tamaki began shouting and proclaiming his innocence, but as he railed, he didn't seem to notice we'd all stepped into the car. So, leaning forward, i tapped the driver of the limo on the shoulder since the window was down that separated us from him, and politely told him to step on it. He did so, and we left Tamaki in a cloud of dust.

Sitting back with a chuckle, i glanced at Haruhi.

"So Haru, when do you want to turn around and go back for him?"

She scowled out the back window at the poor blond, french boy as he raced after the car in his silly Hawaiian shirt, waving his arms and shouting at us.

"How does never sound?"

I grinned at her.

"A bit harsh don't you think?"

"Not at all, the boss deserves it."

I grinned at the twins, and turned to Kyoya.

"What do you think Ootori?"

He glanced at me and shrugged.

"I suppose we could keep driving, he will catch up eventually though, and that won't be fun to listen to."

All of us winced as we imagined the rant that would follow if we didn't turn around, so, tapping the driver on the shoulder, i said,

"I think we should probably turn around now and go fetch the poor guy."

And we did just that.

**Author's Note**

Yosh! What do you think guys? I worked really insanely hard on this chapter, so i hope you enjoyed. Also, what did you think of the wee bit of Kyola i threw in there? Yes or no to that? I tried to make this a bit more my own than following exactly what happened in the episode, so what did you guys think of that?


	30. Important Author

Hey all! I'm so glad you're all enjoying my sorry so far :) i have a bit of news however for you guys pertaining to it. Due to me starting school this Wednesday (Sept. 3rd) My updates will probably start to fall behind a bit. I'm so sorry guys for that, but don't worry because A. I'm not abandoning this story, and B. I wouldn't let you all down like that. However, the updates will be slow as this will be my first time in a school due to me being home-schooled up until now, and due to the fact that i do sports year round. Again i love you all, and you're all beautiful people, and thank you so much for selecting this story and following/favoriting it because it means a lot to me. Enjoy!

Also everyone! Quick update to this AN, but there is a new chapter before this in case you didn't get the notification, or didn't check.

And special thanks to ktmyldy28for giving me a brilliant idea for the next chapter! I hope to update the story before Wednesday for you guys.


	31. Chapter 30

"This is getting frustrating Tokiya. You're repeated failures at catching the girl are beginning to become tiresome."

Tokiya winced, but internally was fuming. How dare this bastard not address him by his title of officer, and belittle him like this. Grinding his teeth, he replied coldly to the man hidden in the shadows of the alley.

"Of course sir. I will endeavor to catch the brat as soon as possible."

"Make sure you do, if you keep failing me i will have to..._replace_ you. Do you understand _officer?_"

Tokiya jumped when the voice was suddenly behind him. This man who was the go between himself and the higher ups was an uncanny creature. He could move with more grace and silence than a cat, but he was as deadly as a venomous snake, as sneaky too.

Tokiya had never seen the man before, had only spoken to him from the shadows like this, but if he had to be honest, Tokiya would admit that he was scared of the man. If he could even be called that. The creature he spoke to wielded powers that no mortal should have. Summoning demons from the darkest corners of hell was a power no man should hold, yet this...sorcerer did.

He had even given Tokiya control over a few of the creatures that had been summoned to help him in his search for the Fuyumi girl. _What's so special about that girl anyway? _The question was always swirling around in his head these days. It had been since he had gotten the call from his contact who had told him he had another 'special' delivery to make to the higher ups. These 'special' deliveries normally consisted of human trafficking, but he didn't understand why the people he worked for were so desperate to get this elusive girl back in their clutches.

As if reading his thoughts, the man he had come to know as the sorcerer chuckled.

"Why we want her back? It didn't matter before, but she has made some...powerful friends shall we say, and if we have her, we have them. Now, I suggest you get back to what you do best gutter rat, and sniff out the girl's whereabouts and get her delivered soon. You have until the end of the month, after that? Well," The man chuckled hoarsely as if it wasn't a sound that he was used to making. "Well, let's just say you don't want to know what will happen other than that i will enjoy it immensely."

Tokiya all but ran from the alley at those words, his retreating form followed by the coarse laughter that was caught up by the wind and tugged away from him as soon as he exited the dark alley into the sunlight. He almost felt sorry for the girl, but not sorry enough that he would risk his own hide for her.

*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*

The sorcerer watched the tall, dark haired man stalk out of the alley. Glancing over his shoulder like he knew he was being watched, he hurried out of the darkness and into the sunlight before striding away to do his part of the job. It didn't matter what Officer Tokiya did on this job, it was going to be his last one. He was getting sloppy, they all did, but at this rate, it would appear the sorcerer would have a new toy soon enough. Two if all went according to plan and he got the girl too.

The man chuckled, and pulled at the darkness in the alley till it swirled around him enveloping him in a haze of black. The officer working for them thought he was powerful, but he was barely anything at all compared to the people he served.

He smirked as he watched the humans walking by. Any of them could be picked to be the next blood sacrifice, after they captured the elusive girl first, and after she was taken care of and her blood used for a blood ceremony in which the ones in power would absorb the paltry amount of magic that resided in human blood. He smiled to himself as he played with the hair of one of his creations that had dragged itself up to him after the man had ran out of the alley.

It was fun to take the broken bodies of the sacrifices and warp them into something terrifying and horribly evil. He smiled to himself as he pictured what he would turn this new girl into, with her big green eyes, and her thick brown hair that shimmered in the sun. Ah yes, this was going to be a wonderful new toy for him.

Still smiling, he slipped away into the darkness of the next alley over, and soon enough had drifted back to the dark hole he had crawled from. And some people that walked by the alley that held the entrance to his home, often remarked they thought they heard distant wails and screams of agony, but as fast as they thought they heard it, they dismissed the idea as naught but the wind playing tricks on them, and continued on their way.

*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*

Tokiya shivered as he sat down at his desk and booted up his computer. He had a bad feeling about this delivery, he had ever since the first day when he'd had to chase her across a roof and failed to catch her. However, he had sent word out to a few contacts of his, along with pictures and told them to keep a lookout for her.

Moments later had him chortling in triumph as he checked his secret, secured email account and got news that she'd been spotted at the beach with students from Ouran high school.

_Of course! How the poor brat got into that prestigious school is beyond me, but it's a solid lead, and i can work with it._ With that thought in mind, he started sending out word to several of his less than clean cut colleagues to keep an eye out at the school for her. He was so caught up in his work, that he failed to notice someone coming up to his desk until they stood right next to him.

Jumping slightly, he clicked the tab closed hastily, and turned in his chair with a schooled smile on his face to greet whoever it was. The smile slid off his face at the sight of the familiar blond detective of the precinct. He had hated her and her cold, bitchy attitude since he'd tried to hit her up, and she had told him to go screw himself. Now there was no love lost between them, and they tended to avoid each other as much as possible.

It didn't help things that the cold bitch had been helping the girl he'd tried to kidnap on the very day he had come back to the office after his failed attempt at it. After the subsequent events, she'd been even more cold to him than normal, and he hadn't breathed easily around her for several weeks until he realized that if the girl had told Maria about him she would've had him booked in an instant for assault of a minor, which meant that for whatever reason the girl hadn't told the cops, even though she had recognized him when she saw him in the station. The fear on her face and how she hadn't been able to meet his eyes had made that plainly obvious, but it may just have been that she was scared of the cops. Either way, she hadn't told, and he was going to make sure she never could.

"Can i help you detective?"

His voice as cold, no hint of the smooth smile that he shared with the other girls who swooned over him for his dark good looks in the precinct.

"No, i doubt you could even if you wanted to. The captain told me to drop these off here."

So saying, she dropped a thick stack of paper work on his desk, turned on her heel, and walked away with her head held high and her shoulders straight.

Clenching his teeth, he wondered if after he caught the Fuyumi girl, he could get rid of Detective Maria the same way.

Turning to the paperwork, he groaned at the stack of old cases it looked like he would be filing, and started day dreaming about the money he'd get after this job was over, and could quit the cop life to live one of luxury.

*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*

An ocean away, a teenage girl with dark red hair and sea blue eyes was hiding in her room trying to block out her parents screaming from downstairs.

As an only child, Maddy didn't have anyone to go to when her parents fought like this, and the last couple of months, their already rocky marriage had been growing even less steady. Her mother was convinced that her husband was cheating on her, and Maddy didn't have the heart to tell her sweet, gentle mother that her fears were true.

Maddy had caught her father more than once dallying with one of his younger, pretty secretaries, but had been sent away after having been made to promise that it would stay their secret.

The yelling was only getting louder, so, with a pained sigh, the girl stood and scooped up her phone and headphones from off the bed she was sitting on.

Tiptoeing to her window to avoid the squeaky floor boards that littered her room, she slid the window open, and in a move she had practiced a million times, took the short jump out the window onto the thick tree branch that was right next to her window, before sliding down the tree. It was time for her to go to her happy place to escape the shouting that seemed to never end in her house these days.

With that thought in mind, she ran across the front yard to her bike, and jumping onto it, she pedled as quickly as possible down the road and onto an old bike path that led deep into the woods.

Maddy had always loved the woods. The forest was where she went for peace, and to contemplate. It had always been her refuge, ever since she was little, she remembered when she was a toddler all the times she scared her family because she'd escaped them into the ancient woods in ireland to some shady little nook where she would sit and sing childish lullabies to herself and the small forest animals that would creep out to see her.

She had once been joking called snow white for her affinity with animals, but the nickname had long since been forgotten by her parents as their troubles pulled them away from their daughter.

Maddy had never been able to understand where it all went wrong with her family. There had been a time when they were the picture perfect happy family, not a care in the world, but that had all changed one day. It had been within a few weeks of Nala's father calling her's and threatening him, and she had a sneaking suspicion that her uncle had known her father's weakness for pretty blond with fake chests, even faker smiles, cries of passion, and whispered words of fake adoration.

Of course, Maddy hadn't known that as a child, but the first time she'd caught her father, he had made her swear to secrecy, and if she hadn't he swore he would make it possible for her to never see her darling cousin ever again.

_If only he knew what Nala, Maria, and i have planned. _She snorted in defiance. Her father could rot in a dark, dank hole for all she cared. They had never truly been close, but what her father did behind her mother's back because he was tempted by a bit of cleavage that girls who were after even a bit of his wealth flashed at him, made her sick to her stomach.

Sliding off her bike, Maddy stepped off the trail, deeper into the woods, ducking to avoid bugs and spider webs, she made her way to her secret escape.

It was a lake. A gorgeous lake at that shimmered crystal blue under the sky, filled with bright little fish that caught the stray rays of light and sparkled like gems under water. Weeping willows edged the pond, and old, ancient trees created a vast forest beyond them that one could easily get lost in. Large rocks were scattered here and there under the weeping willows, some edging far out into the lake, and in the middle of the lake, there was a large flat rock that one could easily swim out to, or take leap across the stones that led to it from the opposite end of the lake. With the sun shining, and a few stray, fluffy white clouds in the sky, the lake was magical. Maddy didn't know how no one had found it yet, but she was secretly pleased no one had, because it was her home away from home.

Animals crept around the lake watching her, she smiled softly at them and clicked her tongue as a familiar fox raised it's fluffy head and gave her a grin. They knew her, and held no fear of the young girl with a heart of gold, and a kindness that rivaled most. She'd always had an affinity with animals, ever since she was little, they would come to her, even wild ones, and she had no problem telling them apart from their counterparts or siblings. There had been times when she had wandered off as a toddler, and she remembered them clearly, larger animals, like deer, or the occasional small wolf would come and watch her, letting her curl up against them to sleep. Or letting her sing to them softly. They were some of her happiest memories. If you took out how bugs always came after her and her companion eventually.

She shuddered. If she wasn't so scared of bugs she would probably sleep out here at night, the animals would keep her safe, but as it was, she kept several large ziplock baggies filled with various things in a small natural cubby that the elements had created in one of the giant rocks. In those bags, she kept spare snack food, a blanket, a hoodie, and a change of clothes along with a swimsuit in case anything were to happen while she was out here.

Her phone was ringing incessantly, but she chose to ignore it knowing that it was probably her parents looking for her. She knew her mom knew that she liked to go out into the woods sometimes to get some peace and quiet, so it was most likely her father demanding she come home to defend him to her mother. Something she refused to do.

When it rang again however, she let out a low curse and scooping it up answered with a snap.

"What?"

"Miss Aisling?"

It was a strange man's voice, and she let out a squeak. For all she knew this was some big wig who had gotten her number from her father, and while she would willingly rebel against him any day, she knew that his real work was important to take care of. So, carefully schooling her voice she tried again.

"I'm sorry, yeah that's me. You caught me at a bad moment and i thought you were someone else. My apologies, but may i ask who's calling?"

"Ah, I understand. My name is Kyoya Ootori, and i'm calling in regard of your cousin Nala."

"Nala? Is she ok? But yeah i know who you are, you've been mentioned a few times to me."

He chuckled to himself at that.

"Beyond ok, and i hope all good things. However, knowing your cousin i probably don't want to know the answer to that."

She snorted.

"Yeah, now, what were you calling in regard to Nala about?"

"Ah yes." His voice was cool, calm, like he never lost his temper, and for a moment Maddy didn't understand how Nala was ever able to get along with him. He sounded like a jerk, but, sucking it up for the sake of her cousin, she let him continue. "Nala had mentioned you'd be arriving here in a few weeks, and on behalf of her, and the rest of the host club, we would like to make your stay welcoming. So i have been put in charge of offering our services to you should you wish them."

_Yep, he's one of those. _

"Look Kyoya, i hope you don't mind if i use your first name even though it's not exactly decorum. I appreciate the offer, but i won't mooch of my cousin's friends, no matter how much they want to help, it wouldn't be fair to Nala and she would want to take the burden of it on herself and i won't let her do that. Secondly, i don't know you, and i'm not comfortable putting my safety in a stranger's hands. So thanks, but no thanks."

She knew she was being blunt, but it was just part of who she was, she didn't know any other way to put out what she had to say. She was treated to another one of his chuckles.

"You are very similar to your cousin miss Aisling. I understand, but i think you should trust me on this one, i can't entirely explain the situation as it's one Nala needs to explain herself, but it would be wise for you to come to Japan with caution, and to be careful when you arrive."

Not sure how to respond to those words, Maddy was left in silence for a moment.

"Um, thanks Kyoya? If it's really that serious should i wait to talk to Nala in Japan face to face, or would a long distance phone call be ok?"

"I would suggest doing it face to face. There are some people who have gained an interest in your cousin as i'm sure she's mentioned to you, and we're not sure how high up these people are."

Maddy frowned at the water in front of her.

"Yeah, she told me. Alright, got it. Thanks Kyoya," The buzzing of an incoming call from my mom had me wincing. "As much as i'd like to talk to you about this more in detail, can we perhaps chat at a later date? I have a bit of an urgent call i need to take now."

"Of course Miss Aisling. I would advise saving my number however."

"Yup, got ya covered on that already, thanks Kyoya, but i gotta run. Shoot me a text because i have some questions for you, but i gotta go so bye!"

"Alright Miss Aisling. I will talk to you soon. Goodbye."

With that, he hung up on the girl, who was left staring at her phone as it buzzed with her mother's incoming call, and the question ringing around her head in circles.

_How bad is the situation Maddy is in? Will i need to bring protection? _

_I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Japan, try not to hurt my cousin too badly before i get there. _

With that thought in mind, she answered the call, and prepared to play the part of the unhurt, loving daughter, to console a broken hearted mother.

***Author's Note****

Hi guys! CHAPTER 30 WOOHOO! I worked really hard to get this together, and i wanted to do something special to celebrate, so you got some bad guy's perspectives, and a bit more information on Maddy in this one. Special thanks again to ktmyldy28 for her brilliant idea. It was greatly appreciated, and was exactly what i needed to work with. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, what did you think of the sorcerer? And Tokiya? Sinister enough? I've never tried writing from the bad guy's perspective before in anything, so this was a first attempt for me, but did it work? Also, what's the verdict on Maddy from this chapter? Did you guys like her having an affinity with animals and some of her background? And Kyoya contacting her? Let me know!

Also, i'm hoping this won't be my last update before school, but at the moment i don't have any inspiration for chapter, so if any of you guys have ideas feel free to let me know! Thanks everyone! Enjoy!


	32. Chapter 31

I was chewing on my pencil, deep in thought about a certain glasses wearing, young man who drove me insane.

Since my awkward realization at the beach, I hadn't been able to carry on a decent conversation with him. As much as I wanted to treat him like I had before I understood my feelings, I couldn't seem able to. And it was pissing me off.

"URGH!"

I stood up, slamming my hands down on Haruhi's kitchen table startling my best friend so badly that she dropped the textbook she had been reading.

"What was that for?"

I started pacing, still deep in thought before pausing suddenly to turn and face Haruhi.

"I am in need of advice."

Haruhi merely raised an eyebrow, and after replacing her textbook on the table, she leaned forward with her chin rested on her palms.

"Have you ever realized that you fell for someone you shouldn't have? And you don't know when you did, but you just kind of realized it happened? And then you couldn't look at them, or talk to them because you feel too awkward?" A small grin slid over my best friend's face and I wrinkled my nose at her. "Don't make that face, it was a hypothetical question."

She snorted.

"I'm sure it was. Is this about Kyoya?"

I felt myself turning steam engine red at that, and started to wave my hand around dramatically.

"W-what ever gave you that idea? Because, it's, um, wrong? Right! It's wrong!"

An eye roll from her told me she saw through my weak defense.

"Ugh fine! So it is! But Haru...I don't understand when it happened….he's never done anything to..i dunno warrant that from me."

She sighed.

"Well Nala, it doesn't always happen from a single action. Like you said, it probably happened over time. You see something in Kyoya that none of us do. I don't know what it is, and i'm not going to pretend to understand, but you can sense something in him and it's affected you in this way. He's a nice guy, and he's so different from all the male influence you've had in your life that you're probably drawn to him naturally. I think you should tell him."

I squeaked, blanched, and thumped down into a chair at those words.

"No! No way in hell! He's...he's...Ootori! He'd probably just give me a weird look and reject me!"

Haruhi's big, brown eyes were calm as she looked at me, but her demeanor held a note of serious as she spoke.

"Worrying about rejection, and not asking may as well be rejecting yourself Nala. Human emotions are chemical reactions, once you have a reaction you can never go back to how you were. So you might as well act on your reaction to him."

I moaned into my hands from pure aggravation, even as her words seared themselves into my mind. She has a good point...but still...i just...I'll have to observe him and see what it is about him that draws me in. Nodding to myself, i sighed into my hands.

"I wish i could just make my heart invulnerable to him."

"You're trying to stay unscarred aren't you? Nala if you've come this far and realized this, you're going to get hurt. The more time you take to decide, the deeper and more it'll hurt for you."

I glared at the ground in front of me.

"Yeah, i guess." A moment of silence followed by, "Damn it Haru! This sucks!"

"What does?"

I let out a yelp at the voice that was suddenly behind me, and spinning, textbook in hand to fight off the intruder, i let out a hysterical giggle upon finding Tamaki behind me.

"Stop sneaking into the house Tamaki! One of these days i'm seriously going to brain you because i think you're an intruder!"

He raised a hand to his heart, gasping in shock.

"How can my darling daughter speak so ill of her father!"

"For the last time! I'm not your daughter!"

"It doesn't need to be flesh and blood! You're the daughter of my heart and soul!"

The hell dude? You're a vampire! You don't have either of those!"

"But it's the thought that counts!"

I snorted, and after poking the heavy book at him threateningly, i dropped it onto the table, and myself into a chair.

"Whatever you say my vampy friend, whatever you say."

He grinned at me, before leaping around the table to drop a kiss onto Haruhi's forehead. The action had me hiding a grin with my hand, while she turned bright red.

"We were just, er, discussing Nala's future."

Tamaki's face instantly lit up.

"Fear not! For i shall help to guide her onto the right path to adulthood!"

"Gee thanks."

"Of course! It is only what any loving parent would do."

I merely rolled my eyes. It still humored me how Tamaki acted. He was so different than the calm, cool, collected vampires in the storybooks. His joy about life was infectious, and his idiocy was adorable.

I had found it strange upon discovering that he wasn't bit to be formed, but born. Coupled with the fact that he had only been born seventeen years ago, and was still in the learning process always made me smile. However, and Haruhi constantly warned me about this, even young and adorable, he was born to a powerful bloodline, and held powers that i could only dream about. Hence why i was told to tread carefully with him at times, but still, as long as i'd known him he'd never had a problem that seemed to warrant using his so called 'gifts'. In fact, he was so laid back and happy go lucky, i couldn't help but wonder if they were even a thing so to say.

I was so caught up in my thoughts over him, that i failed to hear the front door open, and steps coming down the hall until suddenly, Haruhi's father Ranka stood in the kitchen.

His eyes lit up when he saw me, and swooping across the room he yanked me into a hug.

"Nala! I feel like I haven't seen you in weeks! You're always locked in your room studying these days! You haven't even come out to try on the clothes I get you!"

"Can't. Breathe."

He dropped me hastily and I doubled over wheezing, as I tried to suck in deep breathes.

"Sorry darling!" He batted his eyelashes, I could mentally see it in my head. "Now! How is my sweet, wonderful daughter."

"Don't even think about it."

Haruhi's blank voice made the man currently standing next to me fake a swoon.

"You wound me! Your own father!"

I stood up in time to see Tamaki open his mouth and step forward with his violet eyes glinting in that way they did whenever he was gearing up for a dramatic moment. Before he could speak, Haruhi leapt up and slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Sorry dad, but we're just kind of busy at the moment."

I watched Ranka's eyes flicker between his daughter and Tamaki. He raised his eyebrows suggestively at them, and I choked back a laugh. Haruhi's father was the only 'man' who would ever even imagine doing such a thing.

While he hadn't approved of Tamaki at first from what I'd been told, I knew that at least now the gleam in his eye was a teasing light, not one of challenge.

"Not like that dad! Nala was just having some trouble that's it."

I glared at her

_Way to through your dad at me_

**Hush up Nals**.

_Now this is going to get real awkward..._

**At least it's keeping the attention of Tamaki and me for now though**

_Ugh_! My glare intensified. _The things I do for you in the name of friendship Haru!_

Ending our short meaningful look conversation, I turned to her dad who was eyeing me speculatively.

"Er, well, you are. We were, um, talking about my uh... non-existent love life."

"You found a boy?! Nala I'm so proud of you honey!"

"What part of 'non-existent love life' wasn't understood there?!"

Ranka didn't even hear me.

"Is this about that boy from the host club? What was his name again? Ah yes! Kyoya!" Haruhi's dad smiled proudly as he recalled Ootori's name. "A nice young man there. He still calls in occasionally to let me know how things with Haruhi and you are going."

_What?!_

_What?!_

_WHAT?!_

"HE DOES WHAT?!"

"Dad! I told you to stop checking up on me like that!"

Ranka fluttered his eyelashes innocently.

"Oh I'm sorry Haruhi. I thought I'd mentioned it to you. Besides, I wouldn't have to if you told me what you did at school!" He tensed up dramatically as he stared at his scowling daughter. "Ah yes! Nala!" He spun to face me as if to escape fro Haruhi's annoyed expression. "Yes Kyoya does tell me what goes on with you at school. He specifically keeps tabs on what you're doing during the day for me."

My heart sank. _Of course. He wouldn't think of me as anything aside from Haruhi's annoying best friend. He keeps tabs on me for Ranka, not even to just check up on me._

The people in the kitchen must have noticed my downward mood shift, because Ranka nervously started laughing before turning to poke fun at Tamaki.

I didn't pay attention to the conversation as it flew back in forth between Ranka's teasing and Tamaki's foolish indignation.

"I'm going to go for a quick walk, I'll be back in a bit."

Haruhi's big brown eyes stared at me knowingly.

"Do you want company?"

I shook my head, my eyes flicking to look outside at the sun pouring in through the window. It was a beautiful day to think.

"Nah thanks though. I just need to clear my head."

She nodded and waved at me as I stepped out of the kitchen and began walking down the hall.

Slipping into my shoes, I wrenched the door open and shut it with perhaps a little more force than necessary.

The sun was warm against my back, but there was a brisk, little breeze flitting through with the warning of fall on its chilly hands as it swept by the people out walking on the street.

_It's almost fall...Maddy will be here in a few weeks!_

I smiled at the thought, but the smile didn't last long as my mind once again drifted to Kyoya. A frown slid over my lips, and I kicked at a loose pebble on the ground as I walked down the sidewalk.

_Why is he so confusing? I don't understand him. He can be so kind, and then so cold. He doesn't do it on purpose I know, but it's hard having him tug me back and forth with his random moments of kindness only to be followed by his chilly, professional demeanor._

I tipped my head back to look up at the clear, blue ski as I walked, shoving my hands into the pockets of my shorts.

_In his defense though, he does treat everyone like that. Except maybe Tamaki, but even with Tamaki he sends him death glares sometimes when he's done something truly foolish._

A car passed a little too close to the sidewalk for my liking, and I jerked closer to the wall on my other side that separated the homes that lined the street from being directly in the view of the busy road.

I was still deep in thought about Kyoya when my neck began to tingle. Jerking around, i scanned the road until my eyes fell on a tall man on the opposite side of the street staring at me.

Even with the distance between us, I could tell that the stranger's dark eyes were fixed on me with an uncanny coldness in them. My neck began to crawl for real as I stood there frozen from momentary fear. As I looked at the man, a slow smile started to curl his lips and my heart skipped a beat at what I saw. Fangs. He had fangs.

_Dear Lord he's like Tamaki...he's a vampire...shit what was it that Haru warned me about them?!_

It came back in an instant. Her words of warning filling my mind.

_If a strange vampire ever sets his sights on you...do not run. If you run they'll chase. But do not confront them either. Ignore them, or pretend to but keep an eye on them. They can move a lot faster than you can Nala, and if one of the guys from the club isn't there to protect you, you won't stand a chance._

_Most vampires in this city are under the rule and control of the Suoh family, but there are rogue ones that will prey on the people on the streets. You have to be careful._

I pulled my eyes away from the vamp, shrugged my shoulders to roll the stiffness out of them, turned and kept walking.

The only sign that I was nervous, was that my fingers had curled into the sleeves of my long sleeved lightweight shirt so hard that I was sure I was digging holes into the fabric with my nails.

_Don't run. Don't run._

The mantra kept me walking at a steady pace, but I couldn't help but notice that the previously cheerful day seemed somehow grim. As if the presence of the vampire made the bright sun somehow dimmer on the street, and caused the cheerful wind to take on an ominous note.

I walked faster.

_Don't run. Don't run._

I could hear the echo of the vampire's footsteps as he drew closer to me on his side of the street. A brief glance around showed that the street had emptied except for one person ahead of myself who was preparing to turn into a small side street.

_I have to catch up with them! There's strength in numbers._

My hands started to shake. My pulse beat erratically in my ears as i hurried down the street. I didn't know how i knew, but some sixth sense told me to do anything it took to not get caught by this person.

I kept walking, my head bowed, so focused on not getting caught, that when i turned onto the side street after the person, i failed to notice someone melt from the shadows ahead of me until i bumped into them.

"Sor-"

My voice broke off as a strangled scream escaped me.

The person in front of me, with a friendly smile on his face, and a cold, calculating gleam in his eyes, was none other than Officer Tokiya.

**Author's Note**

Hey guys! I live! Thank you for all the kind words about school :) I actually finished this in my study today. How many of you guys are still following this story even after my break? Also what do you guys think of Nala's realization about Kyoya, and her being stalked by a vampire?


	33. Chapter 32

Kyoya woke up with a jerk. He could've sworn he had heard someone calling out to him in his sleep. Shrugging his shoulders, he rolled over in the massive king bed and snagged his glasses off of the nightstand, and his phone to check the time. Seeing it was late afternoon, he turned his phone off of airplane mode so he would receive whatever messages he had missed while sleeping.

Kyoya was an incredibly light sleeper, so even the quiet buzz that came with any incoming messages was enough to wake him. So, every night, he turned his phone onto airplane mode so he could sleep properly without being disturbed. He valued his sleep too much to let anything distract him, and if it was bad enough, he could be woken by a servant. If they dared to risk it.

He smirked slightly, and glanced out the window.

It was a beautiful saturday afternoon, the sun was shining brightly, and he could feel it's warmth from the bright beams that fell through the window to splash over the bed, and himself. Stretching his neck from side to side, he picked up his phone as soon as it began to buzz continuously from the amount of messages he was receiving.

He nearly dropped it again once he began reading them.

Leaping out of the bed, he ran to the bathroom to brush his teeth and to throw on some clothes quickly before sprinting out of the door calling for the housekeeper to have the car brought around.

In his haste, Kyoya Ootori did two things he had never in his entire life done. The first, he left his dirty pajamas wadded up on the bathroom floor, and the second was in his mad rush, he left his phone lying on the floor from when he'd dropped it. The message from Tamaki burned into his mind.

Nala's been attacked.

*V*V*V*V*V*V*

Nala Fuyumi was utterly furious, and Tamaki had the black eye to prove it. She was pacing back and forth in the Fujioka kitchen shouting things at the hosts gathered around the table with an anger they hadn't witnessed before.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU HAD SOMEONE FOLLOWING ME TAMAKI SUOH DAMN YOU YOU SNEAKY BASTARD!"

Her anger had her green eyes sparking, and even Mori was watching her warily from his place standing behind Honey's chair at the kitchen table. It was a good thing Ranka had left for his job at the bar he worked out, because at the moment she didn't think she could censor her words.

"How dare you have one of your men following me Tamaki! You're no better than that blasted, freaking, damn Ootori spawn! You are despicable!" She stopped her pacing to growl at the twins who were staring at her wide eyed in fear. "And you all had the gall to not tell me!? Downright shameful! And Haruhi!? You're no better! I can't believe this! I am practically an adult! I can handle myself just fine thank you very much, there was no need for any back up! Besides," she cast a scatching look at Tamaki, "The 'back-up' let that damn officer escape!"

Before she could continue her rant, a calm, collected voice spoke up from behind her.

"Before you go cursing us all out Miss Fuyumi, would you care to tell me what exactly happened?"

She froze. That was Ootori's voice. Crap. Slowly turning to face him, all of Nala's fight drained out of her at the sight that Kyoya presented. Dressed in a casual button down and jeans, he was the epitome of relaxed as he leaned a shoulder against the doorframe and watched her with his cool, dark eyes. Swallowing, Nala forced herself to stand up straighter and to shoot him a glare as well.

"What happened? I'm surprised you don't already know all about it Mr 'I know everything at all times'."

His eyes if it was possible got even colder.

"Very funny Nala. Now explain," he paused, "Please?"

It was easy to tell it was a struggle to add the please at the end, and i heard Haruhi suck in a short, sharp breath, but i began talking.

"Well what happened was this, i'm out on a walk to think about y- MY PROBLEMS!" Her sudden switch of words and shouting had him raising an eyebrow in confusion, but she kept talking rapidly trying to ignore my almost screw up by saying the one deadly word 'you'. "So i'm out walking, and i see this person, or i should i say vampire, following me. So i try to act natural, and walk just a little faster to catch up with the person walking ahead of me, and i turn down an alley after them so i'm not the only one there is facing the vamp, and you'll never guess who i walk smack-dab into. Officer Tokiya of the Ouran police department."

Kyoya's eyes darkened with anger.

"Are you ok?"

Nala held up a slim hand.

"Wait, i'm getting there. As of now i'm fine i guess. Pissed off at all of you, but fine. Anyway, i start screaming my bloody head off, when he steps forward to grab me i would assume, and all the sudden someone else grabs me from behind."

His eyes flickered briefly, and her heart thudded in her chest at that flash of protective anger for me in his eyes.

Shut up brain. Now you're just assuming things, he probably would let that anger be for anyone if this happened. Stop getting your hopes up! Oblivious to her internal mental argument, Kyoya raised an eyebrow in question for the girl to continue on, and snapping out of her thoughts, she kept speaking.

"So i instantly start thrashing, fighting, and screaming some more, when out of nowhere Tamaki comes running tell his freaking buddy vampire Antone to put me down. So it turns out, you all had a vampire stalking me to 'keep me safe'. In the time i was fighting a vampire i didn't know was there to help me i could've taken down that rat bastard!"

Kyoya's eyebrows both slowly went up as he turned to face Tamaki.

"I thought i told you not to have someone follow her?"

Tamaki stuck his bottom lip out in a pout.

"But Kyoya we can't always be with her!"  
Kyoya sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose between his eyes. Before he could speak though, a phone started ringing. It was Nala's. Slipping it out of her pocket, she answered without checking the caller i.d.

"Hello?" A moment of silence before her eyes darkened to a stormy green "Why are you calling me to ask about that? Do i look like her parent?" Her scowl grew darker and she snapped into the phone, "I don't know, nor do i care what you want. Find her herself because i haven't talked to her in years thanks to you. Oh, and don't call this number back." She slammed the end call button and snarled silently at her phone, lip curled back to show her teeth.

"Who was that?"

Haruhi's voice cut through to the other girl, who lifted her head and sighing, unconsciously mimicked the same movement Kyoya had just made by rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"Maddy's dad of all people. He calls every few months to make sure i'm not in touch with his daughter. It infuriates me beyond belief he has no right..Ugh! Today has officially sucked!"

So saying, she turned and stomped down the hallway to her room, slamming the door behind her.

Haruhi sighed and shook her head before standing up.

"Don't worry about her 'll be fine, she's just stressed out and all this today has added on a lot. She doesn't like feeling smothered which is exactly what you guys are good at." She cast a baleful look at Tamaki who smiled up at her innocently. "She'll be fine by monday, I'll talk to her about it."

*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*

Kyoya watched Nala leave the room to her bedroom, and internally sighed. He needed to see about putting something together to bring a smile back to her face. He hadn't realized till just then how much he was missing her bright smile and witty sarcasm. He listened to Haruhi speak, before a small smile slid over his face.

"Stressed hm? How do you feel about a day off from club activities and to take an outing together?"

The twins stared at him in shock.

"What's this shadow lord?"

"Suddenly caring about Nala?"

Kyoya raised an eyebrow at them.

"Of course i care. She's a hostess is she not? If her mental health is suffering, club profits will drop." He smirked. "Of course, it will mean that it will only take longer for them to work on Haruhi's debt together."

The twins sweatdropped.

"Evil shadow lord, very evil."

Kyoya's smirk deepened and his glasses flashed, hiding the true feelings swirling in his dark eyes.

"I try."

**Author's note**

Hey all! This chapter was definitely not one of my best works, but i'm fighting writer's block so i needed to get something out there before it hits, and this was all i could pull together to lead up to the next chapter that i want. I know this probably isn't exactly what you were looking for with Kyoya's POV ktmyldy28 but i promise there will be different POV'S in the next chapter especially for you so enjoy! To all my new followers and new reviewers thank you so much! It means so much to me that you're enjoying this story Anything any of you guys think of that i can work into the story that you want to see? If so hint hint the next chapter is based on Kyoya's reluctant day out so if you want anything incorporated into that chapter just let me know!

SPECIAL SHOUTOUTS TO ~

BabyKatBoo

LadyEllesmere

ktmyldy28

killjarkidanger


	34. Chapter 33

Kyoya was having a nightmare. His father's words from the night before slipping and whispering through his mind so gently, yet with a noticeable effect. Like how even the gentlest wind makes the leaves rustle on trees in the spring and summer.

Being told that staying at the top of his class wasn't good enough, that he needed to be better than his brothers. In his sleep, the boy didn't move a muscle, not until, and this would only be if a person stood and watched over him as he slept, he suddenly stiffened in his sleep as his subconscious conjured a girl with sparkling green eyes, Eyes like emeralds, and hair the color of melted chocolate. She smiled up at him in his dream , and suddenly, he was no longer in his father's sterile, stuffy office, but rather in a grassy field with rolling hills as far as the eye could see.

"What's the weird look for Ootori?"

Her voice was soft, melodical, and her lips tilted up just a touch at the corners, and for the first time ever, even if it was only a dream, Kyoya Ootori let himself truly appreciate a girl's beauty.

In his dream, the light played over her features becomingly, somehow making her eyes seem even brighter than normal, and her hair shimmered almost golden in the sun. There were none of the tired circles under her eyes like there normally was in real life, and her lips weren't a straight, firm line as if she was a drill sargeant going to battle rather than a sixteen year old girl in school.

Kyoya shrugged, and went to adjust his glasses, only to find they weren't on his face. Frowning, he glanced around, only to whip his eyes back to Nala at her playful next words.

"Looking for these?" Her grin was out in full force showing off her neatly straight teeth. "I snagged them from you while you weren't looking, ya know," Her eyes were full of mischief, "You really are quite handsome with them off."

If this had been real life, Kyoya most likely would have blinked and asked the girl to repeat herself in an attempt to keep his composure, but in his dream, his jaw dropped. However, before he could respond, the girl wrinkled her nose. "You should wake up now, someone is calling you."

And even as she said it, and started fading away from his view along with the grassy fields, he heard Tamaki's voice calling out to him.

"We'll be better able as a club to understand Haruhi's feelings-"

Kyoya's eyes slowly opened, and he registered he was no longer dreaming, before rolling over with a look of death on his face, and slowly sitting up, he felt a dark aura that promised death and pain to those around him.

"Let me tell you, I didn't go to bed till almost five this morning. And who gave you permission to come into my bedroom anyhow?"

All the hosts but Mori were shaking in fear at this scarier than normal version of the shadow lord.

"Who cares about commoner culture? I'm starting to get pretty fed up with this whole 'commoner' shtick." He glared at them some more. "If you want to go then go." And so saying he went to flop back in bed.

Honey's words about him being a scary morning person didn't even register to him as someone else came marching into the room and he froze mid flop.

Nala, tomboyish Nala with her normal lack of makeup and baggy boy clothes, excluding the occasional times she wore shorts, walked in decked out in full on girl glory. Cute boots, leggings a sweater and some makeup on, she smiled down at him brightly. _The twins must've dressed her like this. _He refused to wonder why the thought of Kaoru getting her to dress up like this bothered him.

"Hey guys i think this is a lot of people in the room at once, let him have some breathing space ok? I'll get him up, so out with you all!"

So saying, she shooed them out of the room and shut the door. Although, he could've sworn she winked at Tamaki.

Kyoya couldn't contain a slight snarl as he decided to pull the covers up over his face rather than listen to what he automatically assumed would happen in typical Nala fashion, which would be for her to start poking him, or annoying him till he got up.

However, there was a moment of silence, and Kyoya found himself drifting off in his warm cocoon under the covers before suddenly, a gentle hand was tapping his side.

"Hey, Ootori? C'mon dude snap out of the morning funk you've got going on here. You'll want to come to this i promise!"

He didn't move, just rolled over.

She sighed, he could hear the soft noise, and all of the sudden, gentle hands were tugging at the covers over his head as she muttered,

"Don't make me force you out of this bed buddy."

_What is she doing? I want to sleep. _He didn't even want to form complete sentences then, so he decided to prove his point another way. Without thinking it through, he rolled suddenly so he was out of the covers and they had been flipped over her as he straddled her lower body. He could feel how cold his eyes were, but at the moment he didn't care, he was more worried about getting his point across.

"Did no one ever tell you not to come into a guy's bedroom in the morning to wake him up?"

She stared up at him her green eyes big and surprised, before she surprised him. She laughed.

"No Ootori, that one hasn't been taught to me yet, but thanks for the tip." In a split second, her grin turned wicked, and with a sharp jerk of her lower body, he tumbled off the edge of the bed onto the floor. Letting out a whistle, Nala smirked down at him before calling out to the other hosts. "C'mon guys! I got him off the bed! He's all yours now!"

With a wink, the brown haired girl slipped off the bed and out of the way as the rest of the male hosts burst through his door and proceeded to start tearing his pajamas off of his body and thrusting him into new clothes.

_That little, devious, vixen. She planned that one well. _Kyoya stared in surprise at the door the girl had just walked out of and quietly shut behind her. _She's smarter than i gave her credit for._

***Nala's POV***

We finally arrived at the commoner's department store. Me with a grin on my face for tricking the ever knowing shadow lord, and the hosts following me like eager puppies with their tails wagging. All except said shadow lord, who i realised suddenly after only minutes of being in the store, was asleep and being carried on Tamaki's back. I shrugged it off for the moment trying to be positive about him being kept track of.

_At least i don't need to worry about him being lost. Now if Tamaki was lost i'd have already called search and rescue_. With another small smile, i glanced back at the blond boy who's violet eyes were open a little too wide with excitement as he gaped at all the stores around us. Actually, now that i looked at all of them, all the hosts, aside from Mori of course, had that same look on their faces. _Oh dear lord what have i done… _I thought back to that morning, when i'd gotten the call from Tamaki about how he had a brilliant idea to get to know Haruhi better, that would get me out of the house as well. For once it had sounded like a semi understandable plan, but now that i was looking at the host's awe struck faces, i was beginning to regret not having Haruhi there to keep them in line. She was far more talented than i was at that job.

"Amazing look at that!"

"It looks like they're selling a lot of the same kind of clothing!"

I sweat dropped. Leave it to the twins to see that first.

"Hold on! They have a pet shop! A pet shop! We must go there first!"

Tamaki started shouting that while the twins danced in the background singing the words 'mass production' over and over.

"I'm going to eat ice cream!"

Honey's eyes were hearts as he stared at the ice cream, and confectioners shops, and i watched as Mori watched him calmly as if this was a regular occurrence.

_Although, this is Honey we're talking about here...so it probably is a regular occurrence…_

"Oh! It looks like they're holding some kind of amazing event on the roof!"

Tamaki was standing by the directory looking it over, which i totally admit kind of shocked me, because come on, if that was Kyoya it wouldn't have been surprising, but Tamaki? Checking out the directory?

The boy turned in such a flurry of movement before grabbing my hand to drag me along with the rest of the hosts, that i didn't even notice that he had dropped Kyoya on the bench and left him behind us.

I did realize, after being dragged up onto the roof, but by the time i was able to separate myself from Tamaki and them and sneak away and back down, i was too late to save the shadow lord from scaring a few people, mainly small children.

"I swear i'm going to kill Tamaki."

Those were the first words i heard from behind him as i stepped up.

"Now that, i wouldn't advise, Besides since he's already dead technically wouldn't that be a bit redundant?"

Kyoya turned slowly, and his glasses flashed at me, but i innocently grinned at him. Suddenly, the scary glasses flashing stopped, and he eyed me shrewdly.

"Say Nala, how much money do you have on you?"

And that, was how i found myself standing in line at a mall cafeteria with none other than Kyoya Ootori and his growling stomach. My heart was thumping pretty loudly in my chest, but for once i was able to ignore it as i stared at him My eyes were narrowed in thought as i watched him look around himself. Scanning the crowd as if he was mentally cataloguing every detail, and not for the first time, i found myself wondering how i could've fallen for this guy.

_He's so completely, totally my opposite. I don't understand emotions they're so weird. _

"Uh Ootori, are you sure you're ok with eating here?"

I flicked an unsure glance at the fast food menu and grimaced. I hated fast good with a burning passion, so it surprised me the ever fastidious and wise Kyoya would be ok eating in a place like this.

"You don't have much on you, so there's little choice."

I grimaced, not sure i liked how that sounded to me, but chose to shrug it off instead.

_If he gets sick from it then it's his bad, i could've afforded a little bit of a nicer place for him to eat at. _

"Oh, and make sure you get a receipt. I'm going to make sure Tamaki pays back tenfold later."

The pure level of anger that rolled off him with those words had even me taking a step back, and mentally thanked heaven for never having let Kyoya direct that terrifying anger at me.

"Nala, how do you do the ordering here?"

_Wait, what? _As much as i wanted to stop and question Kyoya then and there about it, i was more worried about the impatient line behind us, and the wailing, hungry toddler at the back of it.

"Ah I'll order, what do you want?"

"I don't care, just make sure there's lots of it."

I rolled my eyes and muttered under my breath at him.

"Of course your highness."

Stepping forward, i placed the order, only to pause awkwardly as the waitress started making doe eyes at my-

_Wait what? Since when do i ever have the right to go around almost calling him my shadow lord? Wah! I'm losing my mind, either that or i'm verifiably just insane and not ok._

Snapping out of that train of thought as my face turned bright red, i watched as Kyoya silently glared at the poor girl who stepped back from him shaking as if cold. So, i swatted his arm.

"Stop that." Turning to the pretty waitress, and attempting to ignore the slow burning jealousy in my gut i smiled at her. _It's not her fault he's attractive. It's just who he is. _With that thought, and another smile i apologized for his behaviour. "Sorry about that, he's had a rough day and is super tired from being up far too late last night. He's actually a nice guy once he's gotten some sleep i promise."

She blushed and stopped shaking as she stared at me as if i'd just calmed a ferocious animal and not a teenage guy.

"Oh no!" She laughed nervously, "It's ok! But, if it's ok for me to ask, are you two dating?"

I nearly spit out the gum i was chewing as i started coughing violently from mere shock.

"No! Oh dear lord no!" _But i want to.._ "We're just, um, friends!"

The girl grinned at me knowingly, and with a wink went and retrieved our food for us. As she handed it to me, she gave me a small, genuine smile and whispered 'good luck'.

Nodding my thanks, i snagged the tray and started walking away, trusting Kyoya to follow.

As i set it down at a table, i plopped into a chair across it from him.

"You know Ootori, even if you're in a bad mood, you can't take it out on others like that."

He snorted and made a comment about how she didn't need to help so fervently because it wasn't necessary, but i lost my train of thought as i watched him rip into his hamburger with an appetite I expected from Tamaki, not him.

"What?"

I snapped out of it and sent him a weird look.

"Nothing, just that i've never seen you eat like that before. You always eat in such a refined manner. And that this stuff isn't to your liking so i'm waiting for a snide comment."

"You think i'm so unrefined as to complain when someone else is buying?"

"Errrr...No…"

_I am thinking it though…._

"I don't need to worry about anyone watching me eat here, and since this is made to be eaten with one's fingers and afst, it is most likely best that way."

I looked away from his sharp grey eyes, choosing rather to study the table top, and the food on it.

_I guess in the world of rich, I guess there must be a lot of pressure over manners and whatnot. _

"Hey."

"Eh?"

"For the record, i mean that it doesn't gain me anything to act all high class in a place like this."

I snorted.

"Of course it doesn't. You are so one track minded sometimes."

I teased him lightly, making sure my words came across joking and not condescending. Of course, as soon as i said it, i regretted it and began thinking of a million other things that would've come across better.

Whispers from the table near us with a few girls had me cocking my head to hear.

"That boy is so hot…"

"Yes!"

"But the girl with him is pretty plain, just look at her…"  
"Well, sometimes guys go for plain girls for fun you know?"

They tittered, and my cheeks went all hot again, except this time from shame.

_Of course they'd think that._ I glanced down at my outfit. I had tried to look semi nice today, but i guess that meant i'd failed. _Compared to him and how handsome he is, i really am plain. _

I glanced at him from under my eyelashes. Trying to ignore the hushed whispers of the girls,and i found myself wondering how someone who was so naturally indifferent to everything, could be friends with someone like Tamaki who was the very definition of life and personality.

"If you're wondering how Tamaki and i are such close friends…"

I sweatdropped and jumped.

_He's completely a mind reader…He's on a telepathic level now, not just psychic!_

"It's simple. Because it's in my interest i won't act for any other reason. I am an egoist after all."

"Tamaki would totally cry after hearing that."

"No, he wouldn't." Kyoya placed his elbows on the table and adjusted his glasses. "He's known that from the beginning, it's why we teamed up. The twins, even Honey and Mori-senpai, we all hang together because it's in each other's interests to do so." Anger pooled in my gut, it was amazing how easily Kyoya was at bringing that emotion to the surface in me. "Our relationships with each other's families and the situation each of us are placed in- Well, let's just say there's still a lot that you don't know."

He stopped talking, and flashed me a sly grin as i sat there shell shocked.

"You know what Ootori, i refuse to believe that." Forcing a smile onto my face, i picked up the tray and threw out the empty food wrappers before coming back to him. "Shall we go find said hosts now?"

With another small smile, Kyoya stood up and nodded his head.

"Yes, but i may just take a taxi home."

"Sure buddy, whatever you want, just don't expect me to pay for that to unless it comes out of Haru's debt."

**Author's note**

Hey guys! So i'm hoping this chapter came out a little better than the last one! I was able to focus much much more, and i was a lot more inspired! This is probably going to be one of two chapters for this episode, and nothing super weird is going to happen, this is all for Kyola development. What do you guys all think? Also thanks to all my new followers for checking out my story! Anyway, shoutout to….

ktmyldy28

BabyKatBoo

killjarkidranger

LadyEllesmere

For their amazing reviews!


	35. Chapter 34

"Uh Ootori, no offense but i thought you were going to take a taxi home."

I spoke from behind Kyoya, keeping my eyes firmly fixed on anything but him and trying to ignore the fact that i was wandering around by myself with the guy i may have a teeny, tiny crush on.

_Ah screw it who am i kidding i really like him. Apathetic, and scheming attitudes included. _

"Well, I'm already here, so I might as well look around a little first."

I sighed, and made a face at him behind his back.

We had finished up lunch in relative silence after he'd stopped talking, and I had been willing to pay for a cab for him, but he had changed his mind at the last moment, and decided instead to accompany me. As he put it, 'I would only get into trouble otherwise'.

Of course, I had told him to stop being a doubter, and stuck my tongue out at him, expecting an instant calculated reply back. However, when no reply had come, i had cracked open an eye only to find none other than Kyoya Ootori staring down at me with a look of mild confusion, and something else, in his eyes.

He had proceeded to mentally shake himself and had turned around without a word to walk through the aisles of the store. That's how we had ended up here.

"You know," I looked off to the side as i spoke and hurried to walk up next to him, "I really don't know much about you and your family."

I left it an unasked question, because i knew asking him straight forward would most likely make him not respond.

"There's really nothing especially there for you to know about my family."

"Well that kind of seems unfair doesn't it?"

I stared up at him attempting my best version of Tamaki's puppy eyes.

"Unfair?"

He stopped walking and turned to look down at me in mild surprise as if the thought hadn't occurred to him before.

"Well, yeah?" I furrowed my eyebrows slightly as i met his gray eyes with my own. "After all Mr Shadow King, you know everything about my family. Hell, you know all of my dad's risky business and former acquaintances better than I do probably." I glanced to the side before shyly looking up at him from underneath my eyelashes. "It just seems kind of unfair."

"That's an intriguing notion in it's own way."

I snorted. _An intriguing notion? What's with this guy? _Choosing to not express that thought so he wouldn't have an opportunity to change the subject, i forged on ahead.

"You have two older brothers right Ootori? What kind of people are they?"

_Don't say they're like you…._

However, Kyoya didn't say that at all. He tipped his head back until his glasses caught on a flash, and disappeared into some sort of memory. From the annoyed twist of his lips, and the slight furrow in his brow it was easy to tell it wasn't a pleasant one. A sadness seemed to sweep across his face for a moment and i braced myself for his anger.

However, for the first time, he surprised me. Turning to look down at me with a soft smile that made his harsh features soften considerably, he spoke in a soft voice.

"They are exceptional men. Enough so, that they meet father's expectations without any trouble. And so, even more so than his third son."

He turned away from me, his hands on his hips as he again seemed to become lost in a memory. I found my heart melting a little, and gently reaching out to tug on the sleeve of is shirt to grab his attention I parried his words in the same soft voice.

"So things really are hard for you huh?"

"You think so?" His soft voice disappeared and he shook off my grip on him as he turned around with a sly smile on his face. "I can't think of any game more fun than this."

So saying, the sly, wicked widened marginally and he turned away to keep walking.

My jaw dropped and i let out a huff as i stared at his retreating back.

_That boy._

My own lips twisted into a sad lopsided smile as i whispered to myself,

"You say that you can't think of any game more fun Ootori, but how can you say this when this is the only game you've ever played?"

*W*W*W*W*W*W*W*

We were walking some more through another level of the mall as we slowly made our way to the top of the building to meet the other hosts who were waiting for us, when we had a rather interesting altercation.

I was bending over to admire a beautifully hand painted flower vase on a stand next to a stand full of pretty looking, painted bowls, when someone brushed by me from behind, and copped a feel while they were at it.

I spun so suddenly i almost knocked over the vase behind me, barely catching it in time with the thought of how Haruhi had gotten herself into her own mess through a broken vase.

_No need to relive that mistake twice. _

However, in my saving the vase i didn't manage to get a good look at the person who had so rudely touched my body, and anger churched through me at that. I was still fixing the position of the vase, when a hand touched my shoulder. With a growl i spun around and caught the hand wrenching it off of my body with a hiss and narrowed eyes.

"Miss Fuyumi?"

I jolted in surprise when i realized the owner of the hand i was currently trying to crush, was none other than Kyoya.

"Oh uh, hey Ootori."

His dark eyes flicked down to our hands and he raised an eyebrow.

"Care to explain?"

Blushing fire engine red, i dropped his hand and looked away with another grimace.

"Some perv copped a feel while i wasn't looking and then disappeared." His eyes darkened with anger, and he dropped a protective hand on my shoulder. I yelped in surprise when he pulled me closer as he looked around us both with his glasses flashing. "I think he's gone, it's ok he didn't hurt me."

His arm relaxed on my shoulder slightly, and his head dropped from its tilt which caused his glasses to stop flashing, but his dark eyes roamed the area around us as if he could pick out the offender just like that. I sighed, and joined him in glancing around because deep down inside i kind of wanted to find the jerk and see what Kyoya would do. However, i was startled by the giggles of several passing girls, and flicking my green eyes towards them, i found them pointing and whispering at Kyoya and I.

_Why are they-OH!_

I all but leapt from under the boy's arm as i found myself blushing for the umpteenth time since that morning. He didn't seem to notice my not so subtle leap away from him though, because his eyes were trained on an old woman standing several feet away from us fawning over some fancy looking pottery as a slimy salesman tried to charm her into buying them at his over the top prices.

The woman seemed to be caving, and her dark eyes seemed to soften every time she stared at the dark blue piece of pottery, i noticed Kyoya's body stiffen ever so slightly, before he stepped forward with a kind smile and soft eyes to the old woman's side.

"These are fakes madam."

"W-what did you just say? Stop messing around! You're a kid!"  
_He so did not just say that…_

I strode forward, opening my mouth to defend my friend, when he picked up the pretty blue bowl with his narrowed eyes directly looking at the shop owner in open challenge.

"It's true, the way the blue comes out here is very similar to Shoin's work, but an authentic piece would have a darker gradation around the base, and this lacquer is too clear."

His eyes had softened as he spoke, and his gaze was now on the pottery in his hand.

All but snarling with rage, the slimy looking shopkeeper glared at Kyoya.

"I'm going to report you for obstructing my business! What school do you go to you delinquent?!"

The scene had gathered a small crowd of gaping people as they watched it unfold in front of them. Kyoya calmly ignored them and the shopkeepers words as he turned the bowl over in his hands, his eyes narrowing at something he saw on it.

"Ah, I knew it. One of the strokes on the bottom on the seal is off. If this is authentic there should be certificate. Shall we do a handwriting analysis on it?"

He turned his dark eyes on the man behind the table, and there was a dark, deadly charm in them that had the man shaking in some form of fear. For the first time, i realized just how perfectly Kyoya balanced Tamaki. Whereas Tamaki was the prince of light and cheer and all things golden, ironic yes, Kyoya was just as charming in a far darker and sly way. I shuddered to think of how stunning he would be if he turned his charm on full power like Tamaki did on a daily basis.

_I so never want to see that._

"I-I left it back in my shop t-today."

Yep, the shopkeeper was most definitely trembling now. More anger caused by fear bubbling up in his eyes as he stared at the crowd gathering in front of his shop. Kyoya's eyes narrowed and he smiled a snake like smile.

"Ah, in that case my family has had dealings with the Komatsu family going way back, so I could contact them right now and have them verify these. Would that be alright?"

The shopkeeper bolted.

Only to be caught in the arms of several mall security officers and led out of the building. The crowd started whispering, the old woman was bowing to Kyoya, he was standing there looking almost awkward as he waved off her praise, and I was standing a little behind it all, slack jawed as i stared at him.

_Helping people benefits you doesn't it Ootori. _

As if reading my thoughts, a few moments later when we escaped it all, he turned to me and answered my mental query.

"Ah didn't you know, that woman is the wife of the chairman of a major electronics maker. This is my first time meeting her as well," We both glanced back at the smiling, bashful woman standing a few feet away talking to a man in a suit, "but i can tell by looking at the ring on her left hand. It's a company that my family has a lot of dealings with."

My eyebrow twitched as i gaped at her, and then him.

_All of that by a ring!?_

He sighed, and reaching over with his hand pushed my jaw shut as i continued gaping.

"I would suggest keeping that shut. As you say your cousin Maddy says, you're prone to catch flies, and she's about to come over here so i'd prefer you didn't embarrass me or yourself."

I snapped my mouth shut and glared at him out of the corner of my eyes before pasting a smile on my face when his prediction came correct.

_Asshole_

"Imagine running into one of the Ootori family boys here. Are you out incognito too? The next chance I get, I'll be certain to take advantage of your family's resort facilities."

"I'm honored."

And the cocky jerk bowed with a smile on his face and respect in his eyes to the sweet grandmotherly woman.

_I'm going to stab him with the next sharp object I find. Hello earth to the Ootori spawn, I'M RIGHT BLOODY HERE TOO! Of course, he can only act like the perfect, wonderful child he is for his 'game'. _

I glanced at him as he stood there in quiet conversation with the woman as if i wasn't even there.

_Does he even care? But wait, earlier...he wanted to help, even i could tell...so that means…_

"Oy Nala," I was jerked out of my thoughts as his voice called me over, and with a blush i realized i had zoned out completely and missed the woman leaving, "Are melons really this popular among candy makers?"

"Huh?"

"I don't get this," _Aw he talks to himself! "_Intentionally giving a corn snack melon flavoring, even when it's not actually a melon, just seems disconsistent doesn't it?"

I couldn't help it, I lost it. I doubled over giggling, feeling my face growing warm and hearing the hiccuping sound i made deep in my chest as i giggled at him. He turned in confusion, his dark eyes curious as he stared down at me.

"That's an intriguing notion in it's own way." I managed to hold back the giggling for a minute to speak.

"Did i say something funny?"

I snorted and began to laugh in earnest at that.

"No it's just earlier you said there was no similarity between you and Tamaki, yet that sounded exactly like something the blond haired baka would say."

His eyes grew big and his lips formed a little 'o' at that, before one of his rare, real smiles broke out as he looked down at me almost fondly.

"I see. That definitely does seem like something Tamaki, or the twins would be thrilled over. All right, I'll buy them. Nala, your wallet."

I rolled my eyes at him, still snickering to myself yet sticking my tongue out in annoyance.

"You know Kyoya, it's customary for the guy to pay on the first date."

I was rummaging through my wallet, so i almost missed how he dropped the package of sweets as he gaped at me.

"What? Is there something on my face?" He just continued to stare at me in shock. "What?"

It was my turn to look at him in confusion.

"Nothing."

He took the money from me and turned away to pay, I was about to question him on it, when there was a joyous shout and out of nowhere the twins swooped down on me. Grabbing Kyoya and I, they tugged us up to the rooftop with them, rambling about how long it was taking me to get the shadow lord, and how i needed to see this and that. I laughed merrily, when we emerged on the roof to see Tamaki rolling around on the floor, while Mori stared in silent shock at him and Honey ate ice cream cone, after ice cream cone, after ice cream cone.

Suddenly, there was smoke everywhere, scented smoke of some sort I might add, and Renge's voice drifted over the audience from the play taking place.

"Tama-chan! Something's about to start!"

Honey's voice tugged him and the other hosts up to the stage where a dramatic play was being enacted.

"Why is Renge -kun up there.."

Tamaki stared in horror as she strutted around the stage talking about summer homework.

"Seems like recently...she's been spreading out more and more."

The twins synced voices were doubly scared as they stared up at the self proclaimed host club manager. However, suddenly, something happened on stage and there was a ninja prancing around looking like he had ants in his pants, and Honey was asking for Kyoya.

"Aaalllrrriigghhtt. Let's go guys, i'm cutting you off i have a feeling we don't want to see where this play goes, and losing the Ootori child once was enough for me today thank you very much."

"Awwwwww."

The hosts in sync whines made me smile, but it turned deadly as i smirked at them and told them i was sure Renge would be happy to reenact it for them.

The shudders of fear i received made me snicker, so with that happy thought, I turned on my heel with them following suit. However, as i walked away, I heard Honey say,

"She's a lot more like Kyo-chan than she realizes."

Followed by grunts of affirmation from the others.

_Kyo-chan huh?_ Honey's affectionate terms always made me smile. _Maybe i should take up calling him….holy Kyoya was so shocked…._ I stopped dead in my tracks as it hit me. _Today is the first day i've ever called Ootori by his name._

And as we found him on the other side of the roof, and on the car ride home, i mulled over that thought in my head. Completely oblivious to the looks the dark haired fortune teller was shooting my way every now and then.

**Author's note**

Hello everyone! And this concludes Kyoya's reluctant day out! How was it? I tried to add some adorable fluffiness, so did you guys like it? I'm so sorry for the slow updating, but i've finished this up and CHEERS FOR CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT! Did any of you guys pick up on that little tidbit about his name? It's kind of part of my headcanon, but you guys will find out all about that later. I hope you enjoyed!

Shoutout to those of you who reviewed the last chapter, I don't have time to check the names right now but you guys are the best! Thanks a ton for following my story, I'm glad you consider it worth your time!


	36. Chapter 35

Maddy was openly glaring now. She didn't even care that her father's business acquaintance and son were standing right there.

"Da," her voice was stiff, her body rigid, "you an' I need to have a chat outside."

Her Irish brogue was thickening as her emotions boiled inside of her chest. It didn't help that as it got thicker the posh business man's son sniffed and tossed his head before muttering something about voice lessons to cultivate a 'proper' voice. When he'd said that it had taken all the patience and rational thought she had possessed not to stalk up to him and speak like she would if she was truly back in Ireland.

Her father's cold brown eyes glanced at her before he too sniffed in near disgust.

"The decision has been reached Maddy. You can't change it."

_He doesn't dare_.

When he spoke again, it was the final straw to her already boiling anger.

"You will go through this with peace, honor and contentment in a way that will honor how I raised you."

Snap.

All but springing out of her seat and stalking forward, Maddy shoved him hard with the palms of her hands.

"You think so da? Ya dare to let the words contentment an' honor out of your slimey, cheatin' mouth? I canna believe ya would dare to say that to me." Maddy was practically snarling as she glared up at the man. "Ya never raised me! It was all mum and yet ya dare to say I should honor ya when barely hours ago ya were ridin" the newest secretary? Where was that honor then hm? I doonna think _honor_ was on your mind while you let her fondle you with her pretty, little manicured hands."

Her father's face had gone pale, but it now burned with rage. His brown eyes bright with anger, and a ruddy flush covering his cheeks he grabbed her arm in a vice like grip and with a curt 'excuse us' he dragged her out of the room.

Throwing her down in the hallway a little ways down as if the pretty clothes she was wearing didn't matter, he leaned down and grabbing her hair snarled into her face.

"You bitch. How dare you embarrass me like that. You will do this Madden or so help me I will destroy everything you hold dear to you."

The girl hissed in pain as his fingers tightened in her hair, before spitting at him.

"Never!"

His eyes turned cold with hate, and releasing her hair abruptly, he backhanded her. Hard. She could feel her lip split and the sudden throb of her cheek as her head snapped to the side. Slowly, she turned her head to stare at him with large, horrified blue eyes. Never had her father hit her, he'd never laid a hand on her no matter what she did. Yet he had slapped her. He didn't even look repentant as he fixed his crumpled suit and stood to his full height.

"Get yourself cleaned Madden."

With those words, he strode back to the room to fix what he could of the failed business marriage proposal, leaving his daughter lying on the floor of the hall cradling a bloody lip and bruised face.

Tears welled in Maddy's eyes as she stared at the shut door, and scrambling off the floor she bolted to her room, where she locked herself in and threw herself into her bed to cry and call her cousin.

*W*W*W*

The twins were snooping. Of course they knew they probably shouldn't be looking for Nala's phone, but she had been edgy since the night before when she'd snapped at them all over text and decided to stop responding to them and the rest of the hosts, Now, they were just curious as to what it was that had caused her anger, and what better place to start with than her phone?

They never would've found it unless it had started buzzing.

With matching grins, they headed towards the empty, or what they had thought to be empty, box in the back corner of the room, and opened it up. Hikaru reached in and picked up the phone and turned it so the screen was facing him again.

He nearly dropped it when he did so.

The caller ID's name and picture had both him and Kaoru going very still, and for a moment everything stilled for them, even the restless feeling at the back of their minds that was their tiger's seemed to pause for a moment to stare at the picture.

The twins exchanged a glance, before Kaoru nodded, and they returned the phone to the box and slipped as quiet as cats from the back room.

They hadn't expected the the picture of the cousin that Nala and Haruhi both loved so much, and whose virtues Maria extolled. They hadn't expected the blue eyes the color of a stormy ocean, or hair the color of wine. Hair that they could tell from their mother's profession, and being surrounded by models all their lives, was not dyed or touched up. Hair the color of dark, rich blood, and eyes like the sea.

The twins were surprisingly quiet for the rest of the day, a fact that all the hosts picked up on, but for the life of all of them they couldn't tell why.

*W*W*W*W*

Maddy stared at the phone as it rang. Waiting for her cousin to answer, she sighed and hung up when it went to voicemail. Her cheek was throbbing still, and she had turned away all the servants who had come knocking at her door with the excuse of a headache. It was her heart that hurt most though. The scene kept replaying itself in her mind, the coldness of the floor under her, the fury, near hatred in her father's eyes, the crack of his hand against her skin, and the lack of regret he had seemed to hold as he walked away from her.

Her blue eyes strayed across the room, before landing on her jewelry box. It was tucked away on the corner of her dresser, a thin layer of dust covering it, and she shuddered. Standing up slowly, she slipped across the room. Her steps were hesitant, slow, as if she didn't want to get close to it. When she reached it, she reached out a hand and gently ran a finger along the surface. She felt the dust under her index finger, felt the smooth gold plate on the top that was engraved with her name, the cool contrast between it and the smooth wood. Her finger caught on the edge of the gold plating, and with startled jerk, she yanked her hand back as if the box had bitten her, before hastily backing away across the room.

_Stop it! I'm better than this. I willna go back to that. I've made it through years withou' it, I can make another day. Especially because it wasn't my fault. _

She scowled darkly across the room at her jewelry box, _more like pandora's box, _and went to her desk by the window. Pulling out her laptop, she sat down to start writing. She let her emotions flow out onto the paper, and for a little while, it was easy to forget what had happened, easy to forge the secrets her house held, easy to forget that scant feet from her, tucked away in a little compartment in a little box, was a little blade that had once been her daily companion. A companion she had fought hard to overcome, and refused to fall back to now. It was a reminder of other times in her life, darker times. Of hands that had touched without asking, and taken without permission. Of too many tears shed alone at night, and the loneliness and heartache of a broken little girl.

And while she was writing, she didn't notice the frantic buzzing of her phone in the background, tossed carelessly under the bed when she had bolted into the room.

A buzzing that if she had answered, would have told her just how deeply her cousin had become involved in another situation. One that Kyoya was desperately trying to save Nala from, and wasn't sure, if for the first time in his life he would be unable to succeed.

**Author's Note**

GUYS HOW WAS THIS!? I needed a filler chapter, and then this kind of happened? My main question however, is did i get Maddy's accent right? I've never had to write an accent before, or an Irish one at that, so if any of you guys have tips or tricks please let me know!

Shout out to...

kaileydraws (Thanks so much for the follow and fave as well!)

killjarkidranger(As always you're review made my day better! I'm so glad you like Nala)

ktmyldy28 (Hehe i'm glad you liked that! It was super nice seeing that you liked a specific line from it enough to comment on it! Also, it's really nice to know I've kept them in character :D)

BabyKatBoo/TroubleChild (Woot woot thanks so much for the review you left when you paused in your reading to review the story, i hope you're still reading and enjoying this since the random review you left!)

czxw (Glad you like it :) personally i agree with you that OHSHC makes it a lot easier to write stories with OC'S than other animes)

SmexyBananas (interesting in a good or bad way?)

If i missed anyone at all you're all beautiful people and *bowing repeatedly* I'll make sure to try to get you next time!


	37. Chapter 36

"Your cousin has taken up storytelling during club hours."

Nine words.

Nine words that had the power to make Madden Aisling go pale.

Nine words that were enough to make even Kyoya shudder.

Nine words that if not made untrue, would soon have the entirety of Ouran quivering in their fancy little brown shoes and blue and yellow uniforms in terror.

For you see, as much as Nala aspired to be like Maddy with her storytelling ability, the only fairy tales she knew to tell where long, almost forgotten ones that were the tales of horror your parents didn't tell you before bedtime. Tales that made even the older generations cast up a fervent prayer when they heard them told. Tales that Maddy had personally seen cause children to burst into tears and flee from her cousin.

"This isn't going to end well Kyoya." She sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose as she spoke through the phone. "Look, I'll try to come up with a way to get her to stop soon don't worry, but my bus just arrived at school so let me text you later ok?"

"Sure Miss Aisling, just try to come up with something sooner rather than later, because this new tirade your cousin is on has even me stumped."

"And we can't have that can we?" She chuckled into the phone. "Don't worry buddy, i'll help you come up with something. Gotta go though my math teacher is glaring daggers at me. Talk to ya!"

So saying, she hung up.

Maddy had come to the realization that she liked Kyoya and his bland humor, even if he could be an ass sometimes, he was still really great. Eve if he didn't know that the exuberant red head on the other end of the line had come up with a ship name for her cousin and himself.

_What he doesn't know won't hurt him. _

Grinning, the girl slipped into the crowds entering the school and let herself become another blank face out of so many.

*W*W*W*W*W*W*

Kyoya sighed as he stared at the phone. His school day had just ended only for Maddy's to begin.

_At least i can text her last minute if it gets bad today. _

He stepped out into the club room from his office, and nearly walked into a potted plant at what he saw. The twins were wearing devil masks and enacting some form of play for Nala as she spoke to them, occasionally pausing when she paused as if making a point to them, before the group continued their speech and movements again.

Kyoya strode across the room towards the group, noticing two things as he went. One, Kaoru had his eyes on Nala far too much for Kyoya's opinion. Two, Nala's hair had several interesting hidden shades of color from natural highlights in it that the light from the large windows was bringing out in it.

"What do you think you're doing Miss Fuyumi?"

She jumped and squealed, yes, squealed, at his sudden voice behind her, and spinning smacked him lightly on the arm.

"Ootori! What do you think you're doing!?"

He arched an eyebrow in return, and murmured,

"I could ask you the same thing in return."

Nala's green eyes flashed with conviction as she spoke up.

"Opportunities wait for no one! If I let an opportunity to be like Maddy and tell grand stories that awe people i have to practice! I can't just say i 'wasn't prepared' or something like that!"

Kyoya winced. Tell stories she did indeed do, however all his gentle nudges and subtle hints that she learn new material and not stories long since forgotten except by those of the older generations. Not stories that were designed and written to keep disobedient children from sneaking out, or disobeying their parents.

"Er, tell me Miss Fuyumi, what is the story that the twins are so.." He hesitated, searching for the right word as he looked down at the pert little upturned face, "_Kindly? _Helping with?"

'kindly came out more as a question than it should have been, at the slight glare he sent the twins for helping Nala with her shenanigans made them both go pale underneath their masks.

"Oh this one?" The girl beamed up at him proudly. "It's the story about a monster that waits in women's bathrooms and asks if you want a blue or red cloak, and if you say blue she strangles you to death and if you say red she peels the skin from your body!"

A shiver traveled up Kyoya's spine, a shiver of warning, of foreboding.

"Miss-"

"Nala."

He rolled his eyes at her as she corrected the old habit.

"Nala, i suggest you be careful on which monsters you choose to talk about, they have a nasty tendency to come when called."

With those cryptic words he turned and stepped away, leaving Nala openly gaping at him in confusion. He could've sworn he heard her mutter something along the lines of 'stupid, stubborn, smart people', as he walked away, but he couldn't be sure.

_I need to find Honey, I should research that monster some more, because it sounds far too familiar. I feel like I've heard that story along with Ouran's name a few times._

He could still feel the icy, cold hand of foreboding sliding her fingers up his back and another shudder slid through him. Whatever was about to happen was not good if his sixth sense had anything to say about it.

*V*V*V*

"Aka Manto, also known as red cloak, is a Japanese ghost that haunts the girls' bathroom. He appears wearing a red cloak and a white mask, and is said to be so charming that girls are unable to resist him." Gasps ran through the room as Nala spoke, the dim lights and flickering candles around her table lending an eerie air to her story telling. "Aka Manto hides in the last stall of the girls' bathroom and upon entering it, he will appear to you and ask if you want a red cloak, or a blue cloak."

Nala stood to circle the table and get closer to the girls. Sliding up till she stood behind them, she whispered very softly,

"Answer red and he slits your throat, or chops off your head. Other legends of gim say he strips the skin from your body."

One of the girls swooned, while Nala's regular Kana asked with barely a shiver,

"What if you ask for a blue one?"

Nala's grin turned feral and she stalked closer to Kana, leaning in close to her and raising an eyebrow coyly while smiling sweetly.

"Oh but Kana, if you answer blue he suffocates you to death, and don't even think about asking for another color, because if you do he'll drag you down to hell."

Another girl swooned and a sniffle was heard as someone muttered,

"I'm never using the restroom again."

Nala's grin ratcheted up a notch.

_Look at me, having an affect on people through storytelling. I'm so proud of myself! _

Little did Nala know however, how bad an effect she was having. It wasn't quite the sweet, mystical storytelling Maddy did. At all.

A soft chime sounded and Nala pulled back smiling happily as the candles suddenly went out and the lights came back on.

"Thanks for coming today guys! I'll see you tomorrow!"

The girls filed out with quiet, subdued 'goodbyes' and left Nala standing in confusion as to why they all seemed so quiet. However, another soft chime of the clock tower bell in the distance had her jolting in surprise as she remembered she had to help tutor one of the first years in English since the girl was struggling with it and the teacher had heard Nala knew English pretty well due to family from America.

"Hey guys I've got to run! I have a tutoring date! See you tomorrow!"

With a wave, she ran out of the club.

"Honestly, that girl. She completely forgot we're all staying late today to help check and tally club profits didn't she?"

Haruhi sweatdropped as she watched her best friend run out of the room.

"Ah my darling Nala is a delicate bird caught up in her own fragile world, I'm sure she'll remember!"  
Haruhi socked him in the arm. Hard.

"Since when did you start taking her side?"

"Ow! My dove! You wound me!"  
"I thought Nala was the beautiful bird not me."

"That's not what i meant!"  
"You sure boss? It sounded like that to us?"

"SHUT UP YOU SHADY TWINS!"  
"Tama-chan don't be mean please! Kyo-chan stop him he has a bat again!"

"Honestly Honey, what do you expect me to do when he's like this?"

"Uhhh..."

"Mitsukuni just ignore it."

"Ok Takashi…"  
"GET BACK HERE YOU PERVERTS! FEEL THE WRATH OF MY BAT!"  
"BOSS CALM DOWN!"

Haruhi watched the club members descend into chaos and shook her head.

"Honestly, in the words of Nala, why did i have to fall for an idiot like him?

*V*V*V*V**V*V*

"No don't worry! It happens to the best of us!" Nala smiled gently at the first year girl who was scowling angrily at the sentence she had written. "Look," She pulled the paper closer to herself, "'To' is normally used in describing a place you're _going to,_ see? Like saying, 'I'm going to the mall'. You wouldn't say 'I'm going in the mall'. It just doesn't make sense, so try rewriting that sentence with that in mind."

The scowl on the other girl's face lightened somewhat as determination filled her brown eyes and she set about redoing the paper. With a small smile Nala sat back to work on some of her own work. A comfortable half hour passed like that, with Nala pointing out mistakes and helping with what she could.

"Here I have to use the bathroom give me a minute! While I'm gone work on the differences between 'to' and 'in', ok?"

The girl nodded and started working while Nala sent her a small last glance before quietly exiting the classroom to go to the bathroom. The Ouran bathrooms were ridiculously nice.

_Honestly, I bet the handles on the sinks and stall doors are real gold. And who the hell has marble bathroom floors!? _

Nala had come to the decision months ago when she'd started attending the school, that the people who ran it were certifiably insane.

_Damn rich people. But then again, it is run by the Suoh family and they have to make sure to look as filthy rich as they are to impress other people and to get other rich people to send their kids here._

A glance at the painted ceiling had Nala snorting.

_If Tamaki and Haruhi do start going out, she better be prepared for how lavishly he'll be treating her…._

She was pulled out of her thoughts as she walked towards the stalls when she thought she saw a flicker of movement down the rather long hall. It looked suspiciously like a person stepping into one of the stalls.

"Hello?" Nala hadn't heard anyone else in the room when she'd entered, but she had been rather caught up in her own thoughts. However, she would have thought she'd have at least heard someone if they were in the fancy bathroom. The Ouran girls uniform shoes weren't exactly designed for subtlety. So she tried again. "Hey is anyone in here?"

Walking down the row of stalls, she felt a shiver of apprehension crawl up her spine. Being stubborn though, she shook it off with a shrug when she decided on one was there before turning around to go back. Only to stop dead at the person she found standing directly behind her.

A long, rich, velvet, red cloak that surrounded the tall body of a man, and a white porcelain looking mask with a clown-like smile etched into it had Nala freezing as Kyoya's earlier warning ran through her mind.

'_Be careful on which monsters you choose to talk about, they have a nasty tendency to come when called'...Oh crap._

Quite by accident, it would seem she may have happened to summon the Aka Manto. The good news, she wasn't dead yet. The bad news, she probably would be very soon.

**Author's Note**

Woot woot! New chapter! More supernatural! More legends! More weirdness! More danger! Yes I know i'm the devil for yet another cliffhanger, but I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! I was really happy to hear you guys saying you liked Maddy so yay mission accomplished there! Now, I'm afraid I'll have to leave you hanging for another few days before you find out what happens with the Aka Manto. Honestly. the number of ghosts that hangout in Japanese bathrooms is disturbing.

Shout out to...

ktmyldy28 (Absolute insanity is upcoming!)

killjarkidranger (You're the best! Yay for cinnoman rolls!)

ChibiCheshire + sayominaomi + fandomluva2theend (New followers and favorites thank you guys!)


	38. Chapter 37

"Uh, hi there."

Nala was blinking hard in shock and internally shouting nonsense at herself.

_How could I have been so DUMB!? What do I do!_

The creature in front of her tipped its' head. It was an eerie, slow movement that reminded her of a snake getting closer to it's prey with right before it struck. It stared at her through the unblinking eyes of the mask, behind which was nothing but darkness.

"Hello."  
She froze. The voice wasn't at all what she had expected of it. It was warm, soothing, soft, just plain nice to hear. It wasn't moving, just standing there watching her, and Nala knew she had to do something.

_The Aka Manto is famous for being one of the hardest creatures in mythology to trick…I have to say something before he speaks again...ummmm, uhhh…_

"So, how are you Aka Manto?"

If the creature could have blinked and put the world on pause as it mulled over what had been asked of it Nala believed it would have.

There was a still air about it, like a creature used to waiting for others to play into its trap and do what it wanted of them, but in that moment the still air became infused with confusion.

_Maybe I can side step around it and run….do any of the stories mention how fast this thing runs…? No? Didn't think so…damn it._

It spoke again, it's voice warm, lulling, gentle. Like a cup of hot cocoa after being outside in a cold snowy day, it reminded one of pleasant memories and soft words. It's words were nothing but soft, and if Nala wasn't as good at focusing on the words and not the voice as she was, she wouldn't have shuddered in fear.

"We heard you calling. You are not a witch, but the air around you and yours is full of magic. We heard you, and her. You are connected, and she screams very loudly, even from across the world."

Nala stared at him in utter baffled confusion.

_Who the hell is she…? I don't know what he's talking about...should I answer him? Probably not…._

She made a move to step around him, but he slid to the side and forward effectively hemming her in.

"You called. You cannot run away now my lady."

The voice was charming, and Nala could feel how her mind wanted her to get caught up in it. Caught up in the soothing tone, the smooth words, the lulling, deceiving calm in the voice, but one look at those black, empty sockets behind the mask and she snapped out of it.

"Uh, look buddy, as much as I want to stay, I really have places to be people to see, you know the norm. So maybe we can continue this discussion, um, never?"

Fingers crossed, she stared up at him with hopeful eyes.

"Red or blue?"

_CRAP HELP SHIT SAVE ME OOTORI!_

"Excuse me?"

Oblivious to her inner turmoil, the creature tilted its head in a slow, predatory manner, and repeated the question.

"Red cloak, or blue cloak?"

Heart beating so hard she didn't she know how the entirety of Ouran couldn't hear it, she was screaming so loud inside her mind she couldn't have answered him in that moment even if she wanted. Until, she had a split second of clarity.

"No cloak thank you very much, now if you'll excuse me…."

She ducked under his arms as they jerked towards her, and sprinted. Out the bathroom, down the hall, she was on the second floor of Ouran Academy, and was for a split second more horrified at the thought of flying up the long flight of stairs than she was of the creature she was sure was chasing her. She wasn't stopping to check.

Her heart was pounding furiously in her chest, the air caught in her lungs as she ran so quickly she could barely catch her breath. Her legs burned, and fear filled her mind at the prospect of getting caught. She didn't know what would happen to her for answering no cloak, but she didn't want to stick around to find out.

There was a crash from somewhere behind her, and with a small cry as she came to the stairs, she began to sprint up them with renewed effort. She couldn't get caught. She hadn't come this far, and escaped officer Tokiya, and everything that had been sent after her only to be caught by something completely unrelated. Ironic or not, it wasn't on her game plan.

Desperation filled her as she heard a low growl from somewhere behind her, and the muffled sound of her footsteps rang through the hall as she fled from the monster. She thought she heard the scuffle of another pair of feet, perhaps the wispy, soft noise of a cloak fluttering, and out of the corner of her eyes she thought she saw a too big shadow clinging closely to the wall, but it was all happening so quickly she couldn't be sure.

Nala saw the sign for music room #3, saw the large ornate doors ahead of her and for a split second hope filled her. The hosts had yet to let her down. However, she realized something.

_Are they there today!? I can't remember! I think today is a finance day, oh gosh I pray they're there, because if they aren't I'm going to die._

Heart pounding in her ears, and her legs trembling as the weariness from so much running was beginning to take over her body, Nala burst through the club room doors with a prayer on her lips for the people she needed to be there. A prayer that died as soon as she saw the lights were dimmed, and the room was empty.

_I'm going to die._

*V*V*V*V*V*V*

Haruhi stared at the hosts as they walked with her, oohing and aahing at the sights they went by, and exclaiming over how they suddenly understood why commoners liked to walk and take scenic routes versus driving in an enclosed car.

_I hope Nala doesn't mind we left early, even if she forgot we were staying in the first place…._

"Oof!" She snapped out of her thoughts as she walked straight into Kyoya's back as he suddenly came to a halt. "Seriously Kyoya-senpai?"

She walked around him, intent on giving him a piece of her mind on why people shouldn't just stop walking, but she froze upon catching sight of his face.

His eyes were unfocused, his breathing slowly growing shallow, and his skin was turning pale and clammy.

"Nala."

The word was all but gasped out as he slowly swayed on his feet.

"Huh?"

"What's up with the shadow lord?"  
"Nala." His eyes were almost frantic now, darting to and fro between the hosts as if he expected the answer to his problem to be standing there with them. "We have to get back to the club room. Nala is about to die."

_Shit._

*V*V*V*V*V*V*

If she did manage to survive this ordeal, which the chances of happening were beginning to look pretty slim, Nala was never going to crouch behind a couch ever again. It was uncomfortable, and dusty, and she was far too large to ever comfortably fit into such a small space. Trying not to sneeze either was becoming ridiculously hard.

Nala couldn't hear the Aka Manto moving around, but a sixth sense was telling her that moving from the hiding spot wouldn't be prudent at the moment.

_How is it not finding me? I've been crouched here for several minutes…..Shit knock on wood I don't want to jinx myself._

From somewhere in the distance, the sound of a bell tolled.

_Three….four….five!? I've been crouched behind this couch for half an hour!? Ugh..no wonder I can't feel my toes anymore…._

"Come out my lady."

A shudder crawled up her spine. It's voice was so close, she couldn't hide forever, she should just crawl out and-

_STOP! DON'T LISTEN TO HIS VOICE!_

Shuddering, Nala snapped out of the weirdly induced trance, and went very still. Was that a shadow at the edge of the entrance to her hiding place? Whatever it was she thought she was seeing, she blinked and it was gone. However, the creatures strong, steady, trustworthy voice didn't.

"You should come out, it would make it much easier for both of us, You'll be fun to play with. All you have to do is answer the question. Red, or blue?"

The voice was lyrical, beckoning. It was like what Nala imagined a siren's voice would sound like. A siren that would hunt you down and brutally kill you the moment it saw you, but a siren none the less.

"Rrreedd or blueee." It broke off cackling, and for a moment, the true depth of it's evil seemed to fill the room. "People are looking for you my lady. Nasty, nasty people who will hurt you much more than I will if you just come."

_DOES THE WHOLE SUPERNATURAL WORLD KNOW I HAVE A BOUNTY ON MY HEAD OR SOMETHING!?_

"Found you."

She screamed.

*V*V*V*V*V*V*

The scream echoed through the halls of Ouran. It was fear, and pain all wrapped up together in a heart wrenching cry. The hosts could hear it all the way down on the second floor, and they found themselves spurred on to run even faster. The twins shifted form and began to run as tigers, Tamaki tapped into some of his vampire speed and sped off, Honey was using some sort of priest magic to make him and Mori move faster than they should have been able to go, and Kyoya and Haruhi?

Well, Haruhi wasn't exactly in the most fit track condition, but she was keeping a good pace, and Kyoya, well, he was moving almost as fast as Honey, and that was with no magic use. Merely his fear and worry for the girl with eyes like spring who was one of the only people who could make him truly feel.

Another scream pierced the air just as the twin tigers slammed through the club room with Tamaki on their heels.

The sight they came upon was bloodcurdling.

Nala was being physically held down by some creature in a long red cloak and mask, his hand raised to reveal wickedly sharp claws that were swinging down again towards her back. A back that already had several nasty looking slices and a torn school uniform to show.

With roars of anger, the tigers launched themselves at the Aka Manto.

**Authors Note**

See we're getting there! How is this turning out so far? Making sense? Was it a realistic chase scene? I'm going to start pulling in more supernatural stuff, because my sideplot of their friendships building has gone well, and I think it's time for us to see more of Officer Tokiya, and Maria. That ok with you guys?

Shout outs to…

Killjarkidranger (Never seen AHS but I'll take your word for it)

Guest (Thank you so much it's always nice to be appreciated!)

Animegal1357 (Actually it's Kyola! I was given the idea in an earlier review from an amazing person!)

ktmyldy28 (Honestly they really should, with how curious she can be you'd have thought Kyoya would've said something by now….)

Pikamewgirl (I'm not entirely sure what you mean by that?)

Ariadne Falcon + LizzytheAngel + SublimeEchos + Clara1Oswin1Oswald1 (Thank you for the follows/favs. I'm glad you enjoy my random drabbles.)


	39. Chapter 38

There had been screaming, then searing hot pain. And more screaming to follow.

Nala wasn't sure if she was the one screaming at this point or not. There was a roaring in her ears even as the fire from the Aka Manto's claws seemed to be spreading farther down her spine. Vision going spotty from pain, because Nala didn't have a high pain tolerance and she wouldn't try to argue otherwise, she heard a thud above her and an angry shriek that left her ears ringing.

Someone was shaking her shoulder and jolting her back. It made her cry out, and suddenly those jarring hands were gone and she was scooped up into someone's arms and cradled against their chest as they began walking.

She knew she should be fighting, struggling against the hands that held her, but those hands were so cool against her skin as she was laid down on a soft couch. They feathered over her face in the most gentle way possible and slid down her neck and over her back in light soft touches.

"I think there was some sort of poison in the claws. She wouldn't be this bad if they were just regular claw cuts. We need to get her to my family's hospital."

The words slid in one ear and out the other, and Nala drifted off into the inky blackness of unconsciousness.

*V*V*V*V*V*V*

_Beep beep beep. _

The annoying noise was the first thing Nala heard. Groaning. She rolled over the smack her alarm clock off. Only to A. almost fall of the bed, and B. to feel a sharp searing pain slide up her back along her spine.

"Ow ow ow ow ow."

Gingerly, she sat up in the bed. Her eyes cracked open and she winced at the nearly blinding light that was streaming through the window. After her eyes stopped watering, she glanced around the room slowly.

It appeared to be a small, private hospital room of some sort.

_Hell is a lot nicer that I thought it would be….._

Her eyes trailed over the room taking in the two side doors, she wasn't sure where they led too, but they were there, the couch under the window, the chair at te side of her bed.

Her bed

Oh right.

She took stock of her own injuries finally. There was definitely bruising on her knees and elbows form when the Aka Manto has thrown her down, and the throbbing in her back must've been from its claws. She shuddered, bile rising in her mouth as she remembered it throwing the couch back from her and grabbing her by the hair when she tried to scramble away. Her legs had been too numb from crouching to do anything but let them hang almost limply as it threw her down.

Another shudder slid over her body as she remembered its angry words hissed in her ear.

"Found you little no-magic. You didn't choose, so I had to choose for you."

It had almost sounded like it was pouting as it spoke. As if this was a game to it and she was the toy. Or as if the Aka Manto was the parent and she was the disappointment.

Bile rose in her throat and she shook her head like a dog in an attempt to clear it of the thoughts in it. She couldn't seem to shake some of the things it had said though.

_What was it talking about me and mine and magic? _

Sighing as a headache began to form behind her eyes, she slowly scooted off the bed to approach the doors.

_Which one is the way out? Does whatever afterlife i'm in have bathrooms? Cause i really need to pee….Wait._ She stopped walking towards the doors, and turning away from them scanned the room. _What if this is the Aka Manto's lair? I need a weapon_

The only weapon like thing she seemed able to find in the room, was an expensive and heavy looking vase. Snorting, she picked it up off the edge of the little table it was sitting on.

"Looks like something Ootori would like. Kinda like those fake vases that merchant was trying to sell...except...nicer."

"I'm glad you think I have good taste."

She screeched, and swinging around, flung the vase at the person's voice. There was a smashing noise as it shattered and a groan as the person dropped to the floor heavily. Nala was already darting towards the door, when she realized she knew that voice.

_Dear mother of pearl please don't let me have done what I think I did…_

Turning slowly, hesitantly, she took stock of the situation on the floor in front of her with growing horror. Because, on the floor at her feet, was lying a furious looking Kyoya, with a large bruise forming on his forehead and the vase shattered around him on the floor.

"You wouldn't happen to be feeling generous right now if I were to ask you not to add that to the debt Haru has?"

He glared at her, his glasses in his lap so she got the full affect of those dark eyes on her. It made her stomach stir and her heart beat a little faster.

"You're right, I am feeling generous so no I won't add it to hers." Nala sagged in relief at those words. "I'll let you start one of your own."

"WHAT!?"

He smirked up at her shocked and horrified expression, but winced as he tried to stand up.

"I may be willing to lessen it if you help me off the floor before the others get back and don't tell them that I was taken down by a pipsqueak of a girl with a vase?"

She all but scrambled forward to help him up, ignoring the uncomfortable pull of the skin on her back which she assumed to be stitches. It hurt to help lever him up, but she figured she deserved it for braining him. Noticing her wince however, his eyes went wide behind the glasses he'd replaced on his face, before narrowing.

"Get in bed."

"Aren't you gonna buy me dinner first?"

"he cocked an eyebrow at that.

"Nala, not only is that the oldest and most used response there is, you are also in need of sleep and you haven't healed fully if the look on your face a second ago was anything to go by. So," his eyes caught hers in a staredown. "Either you get in that bed, or I'll call Haruhi in here and make her get you in bed. She knows how to deal with your stubbornness better than I do."

She shuddered. Haruhi could be downright scary when she got man, and she didn't want to risk that. As it was, Nala had a feeling she was in for an unpleasant conversation later with Haruhi and the rest of the hosts as it was.

So, without further argument, she turned and walked across the room before sliding into the bed. Pouting at him like a child, she muttered at him under his breath for being a jerk.

He heard her, and as he rang some form of bell that she assumed was to call a servant to clean up the mess, he called from across the room.

"And this jerk, Miss Fuyumi, saved your life. You should be grateful about that."

"You what?"  
Turning to face her, he spoke calmly.

"I had a vision, announced you were going to die if we didn't hurry, and started running. We got there to find you on the ground unconscious, the twins attacked with Tamaki, Honey, and Mori while Haruhi and I got you to safety and to my family's private hospital.."  
"You...ran…?"

His eye twitched with pent up aggravation as to how that was the only thing she seemed to notice. and he ground out the word yes.

"Thank you."

There was so much quiet emotion in the two words, that Kyoya's annoyance disappeared, and a softer look filled his eyes. His eyes were on hers from across the room, and again, that strange heat curled low in her stomach as she just watched him. He stepped forward, opening his mouth to say something, but before he could there was a loud crash from the hallway outside, and suddenly two rambunctious tigers were in the room.

"NAL-CHAN!"  
Honey's sweet voice accompanied them as he launched himself across the room through the door to her bedside.

"Nala you're ok!"  
Haruhi and Tamaki were right behind him with Mori in tow. Even Mori looked visibly relieved to see her up and moving, and stepping up to the bed, he ruffled her hair gently. With a smile at him, she managed a small hello before Tamaki was swooping in.

"My darling daughter are you ok!?"

It was her turn for her eye to twitch in annoyance.

"Tamaki i'm fine. A little scratched up, but i'm fine. Now," her eyes caught on the tigers crouched across the room, "Come here you…." Nala's voice trailed off as her eyes traveled over the muscular bodies of the big cats and she felt her eyebrows furrow in confusion. She couldn't for the life of her tell which one was which.

_Well that's a problem._  
They stood slowly, stretching, languid, but those movements did nothing to ease the sharp fear that coiled in her stomach at the sight of the sharp claws on their paws, and the fangs that dropped from their mouths. Nor did it to anything but amplify the deadly grace with which they moved as they crept across the room on soundless paws that were easily as large as her hand spread out.

Sharp golden eyes watched her as they came closer, and the one closer to her sniffed the air slightly before it's nose curled and it nudged the other. The other repeated the process, and something flashed through it's eyes before it let out an angry growl.

She stiffened, and she felt more than heard the rest of the hosts go very still and silent as the tigers' moods shifted.

The one who had nudged the other curled its lip at her, which earned it a swat from its twin.

"Gentlemen, please take this outside. You don't need to be here in tiger form at the moment. Come back when you've shifted."

They turned slowly, eyes unmoving as they pinned on Kyoya. For a very tense moment, no one in the room moved as the tigers watched him. Until, suddenly, one of them made a low noise in it's throat, and began to creep out of the room.

As soon as the last bit of a flicking tail was no longer visible, the occupants of the room visibly sighed with relief.

"That was close."

"Too close."

Nala was surprised by the seriousness in Tamaki's tone as he responds to Kyoya.

"What do you guys mean?"

She new something had been said wrong as soon as the words were out of her mouth. The rest of the hosts turned to stare at her after she spoke.

"No one has told you have they?"  
Haruhi's words spurred Nala to shake her head no.

"Oh, well it's simple really Nal-chan."

Even as Honey spoke, Nala turned her eyes to Kyoya and Tamaki.

"You guys are hiding something. What is it?"

"Nala, it's sensitive."

She twisted to face Haruhi as her best friend spoke.

"Sensitive? Haru, you guys risked your lives to save me from the Aka Manto. You could've been seriously hurt. I'm one of you now, I think I deserve to know."  
As she spoke, the hosts exchanged glances, and finally, Kyoya nodded.

"Ok. We can tell you what we know." Her eyes lit up. "However, it stays in this room and you do not approach the twins about it. Ever, understood? And after we talk about it, we have to discuss a more serious problem. Mainly the call we received from Maria about half an hour ago."

Nodding solemnly, Nala reclined on the pillow behind her to wait for him to begin the story. She had a feeling it was going to be a long story.

**Author's Note**

Ciao minna! Yes I'm mixing languages I know, but i'm trying to practice my Italian. So, we're about to get some serious background information on the twins be prepared for mystery, angst, and serious stuff to go down. I know a lot of you were expecting a fight scene, and obviously I did something different, but bear with me there's a reason. Mainly, I feel like I drag them out too much, and it would detract from the storyline to have three chapters of the hosts fighting the Aka Manto. If you want, I can add in a bonus chapter at some point of Kyoya's POV of the fight, but i won't be writing out an entire chapter focused on it.

What do you guys think of the new chapter? Subtle fluffiness hehe.

Shout out to…

Rainbowkitsune (Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying it! Also, I love your username - just as a side note, pardon my randomness.)

ocean full of lies (As requested, a quicker update! I tried, and you have? Glad to hear I'm not the only one who knows about these things!)

animegal1357 (Pff Nala ain't goin down that easy!)

wajagirlliz (Why thank you :) I actually did have fun writing this chapter! I hope you liked this chapter!)

AnimeLuva4Life (Nah thank YOU)

ktmyldy28 ( I worked hard to get this out to you guys! I hope you enjoyed this one!)

killjarkidranger (Right?)

siriusstarruth + AnimeLuva4Life + Cookiegirl226 + DoctorReidIsInTheHouse (Thanks for the follows/favs guys!)


	40. Chapter 39

Tamaki's violet eyes were eerily serious as he started talking. Perched on the end of her bed with Haruhi in a chair at Nala's side, and the other hosts gathered at her sides, he stared straight at her as he spoke.

"Before the twins came to join the club, they were in a bad place. None of us really know all the details, and there are plenty of rumors that have circulated, but suffice it to say, when we say the twins are dangerous we're not kidding."

Haruhi took over for him, her voice gentle, yet firm.

"They're tiger shifters Nala you know that. What you probably don't know, is that shifters are far closer to the supernatural border than any of these guys are."

That had Nala confused,

_weren't they all supernatural and stuff?_

Honey must've seen the confusion because he stepped forward to stand there and began talking in lieu of Haruhi.

"Nal-chan, we're not all that supernatural. We're not human no, but we have human consciouses and human bodies, well, " He glanced at Tamaki, "to an extent. Even Tamaki is closer to human than the twins. We only have to deal with one stream of thought and emotions, only one body for each of us. The twins have to deal with much more than that. Not only does the magic they hold make them share bodies, it makes them share many things with their inner animals that aren't quite human. Emotions run hot for them, it's why they act the way they do. Even in human form their cat instincts live close to the surface, and often dictate what they do."

Pieces were starting to fall into place for Nala as they spoke. The way their eyes sometimes seemed to shimmer in the light, how they sometimes watched her and the people around them with stillness that wasn't quite human, how when they felt cornered their lips would curl to reveal teeth that were at times a little more sharp than others.

"Oh wow." Nala glanced around at the hosts. "that's insane, it must be hard for them to deal with that."

_And that was the most pathetic thing i could've said...good going Nala._

Kyoya stepped forward this time, bolivious to her mental annoyance at herself, and went to sit on the edge of the bed. His hip was pressed against her thigh as he turned his upper body to face her, and it made it difficult to focus at first on his words as she felt the warmth from his body seeping through the blanket against her leg. She snapped out of it in a second, and managed to look him in the eyes while she paid attention to his words.

"The twins need things that even we can't give them, they're predators by nature, and their will always be that bit of animalistic tendencies in them even in human form. They're not safe though Nala." His eyes seemed to darken as his thoughts drifted. "They're very close to being feral, that's part of the reason we were so determined to get them into the club. With our combined magic, it's easier to keep their animals at bay."

Here was where she interrupted him.

"What do you mean feral? Isn't that when an animal is going mad? Like a rabid dog or something?"

Kyoya nodded solemnly.

"Yes. Shifters walk a very dangerous line, especially them as twins, it makes their protective instincts twice as strong and it is hard to control. They need….well, they need _something_. We're not entirely sure what yet, but there is something that can calm them, we've heard it has happened before. Of course, like everything else, that's just a rumor, but there is a chance."

Nala's green eyes were troubled, her brows drawn tight as she thought over what they'd told her. There was still something missing from the story.

"What rumors Ootori?"

He hesitated, and glanced over at Tamaki. They seemed to be having some sort of silent conversation, before Tamaki gave Kyoya a short nod. Turning back to her, the Ootori heir began to speak again.

"The rumors are just that, speculation, there is no proof of any of it."

"Ootori, spit it out."

Nala's eyes were narrow with concentration as she pinned the boy with a stern look that she knew could've rivaled even one of his own.

_Well, I did learn from the best. _

"There is speculation that they killed their baby sister, the one person who was supposed to be able to tame their animal sides."

Nala went very still. She hadn't even known they'd had a baby sister, let alone any of that. Her stomach turned in horror at the thought, and the little bit of fear she had always held over them, flickered like a flame being fanned and began to grow.

"W-what? That can't be true!"

Her lips trembled at the very thought, and tears filled her eyes as she imagined it. The sad thing was, that after seeing them in their tiger forms, and knowing even a bit of their power, she didn't doubt for a moment that it would be hard for them to kill anyone or anything. She attempted to squash the niggling doubt, but it was hard. Haruhi, at her side still, took her hand and forced her friend to stare at her.

"Nala, like Kyoya said, it's all just rumors. There is absolutely no proof, so before you go judging or getting scared, remember that."

"I-I get that but Haru...what if it is? We've both seen what they can do, and if what I'm guessing is right then they went a little crazy when they did and that's why they're still in tiger form? And what do you mean the only person who can calm them? Can't others?"

"Well, like Honey said, shifters are far more closely connected to the supernatural world than us." Tamaki has her attention again, his violet eyes still dark with thoughts. "They have a...need that we don't. They require, each one of them, a person who can calm them, who can hold and accept both them and their animals. We call them the Adsumadamo, but the human equivalent would probably be soul bonded, or soul mates. In our world, it is both the greatest strength and weakness one can have."

"Benzaiten, the goddess of love was said to strike a deal with Gekka-o the god of marriage, and Hotei God of happiness, when she saw how miserable the shifters trapped between worlds were." Honey's eyes were almost glazed over as he spoke, as if he was staring at something none of them could see. Mori stood behind him, a hand on his shoulder and his watchful guardian eyes trained on the small priest. "She went to them and told them that if they granted the shifters the ability to find peace and life long happiness with a compatible partner, that she would bless them both with an unrivaled amount of lovers. However, even as they agreed to her wish, Amatsu Mikaboshi the god of evil became enraged because the shifters were his unholy creations and he didn't wish happiness on them. So even as the other gods gave the shifters their good will, he cursed them."

The mood of the room dimmed greatly as Honey spoke, and it was with bated breath that Nala asked her next question.

"What….What was the curse?" Surprisingly, none of the hosts seemed willing to meet her eyes when she asked that, instead looking everywhere but her. So, Nala turned to the apparently only other semi sane person on the room. "Haru?"

Her cousin's big, brown, doe eyes were troubled as she sat for a moment as if contemplating speaking.

"I don't have all the story, it's been passed down through the generations in the hosts' families, but as we both know my family never had anything to do with the supernatural so I'll try my best to explain since these guys are apparently so unwilling."

She gave them all a pointed stare to which they just managed to avoid even more. Apparently the vase that had been replaced on the small side table across the room was suddenly the most fascinating thing they'd seen all day. With a sigh Haruhi began to talk, not before muttering something about the hosts being old fashioned babies though.

"He cursed them to only ever have one other half. He took the already split souls of shifters, and tore off a bit from each of them before putting that little piece into the soul of another. For each shifter, through every generation, there can only be one person to complete them."  
Nala raised an eyebrow at her best friend.

"That doesn't sound that bad though right? So he gave them the ability to only have one person. Doesn't that just mean that the marriage or whatever relationship they have will be healthier?"

Haruhi's eyebrows furrowed as she looked at me, and she nodded slowly.

"Yes, and no They are happy with their soulmate, the soulmate completes them and connects with them in ways that our minds can't even imagine. The curse though, was that he took part of their soul Nala. Your soul is what makes you who you are, and if you don't have a piece of that you can't ever discover who you should be. Think about it, what would you do if you had a nagging suspicion that only kept growing throughout your entire life that you aren't who you should be?"

Nala felt herself pale, as the sick understanding of why the hosts wouldn't look at her or talk about it slid through her mind.

_They can't admit that...that…._

"The twins are going crazy."

The words slammed through the silence and shattered. It was as if the room physically became colder, and Nala caught Haruhi shooting Tamaki a worried look as the temperature changed. Even as Nala watched, Tamaki's eyes seemed to shimmer and grow nearly black for a moment, before they flashed back to their normal purple. A shudder crawled up her spine. Nala didn't understand how Haruhi could do it, Nala loved the hosts as friends, but whenever she saw these bits of their other, abnormal lives, she couldn't help the fear that traveled through her. She didn't want to be afraid of them, she just couldn't seem to help it.

_Maybe that's why I feel so safe around Kyoya, because he's more normal than the rest of them….no creepy magic changes, or fangs or anything. All he does is look into the magic crystal ball of his mind_

"Yeah." Kyoya's voice, for the first time since she'd met him, was quiet, resigned, tired. "Unless they can find whoever it is in the world who completes them, then we only have, at most, a few more years." He hesitated for a moment towards the end, and Nala latched onto it like a shark scenting blood in the water.

"What? What aren't you telling us Ootori?"

His eyes rose to meet his, glasses flashing as he spoke.

"I...did some calculations." Again, hesitant, slow before he continued. "At the rate they've been going downhill, I'd say we only have a few more months before something triggers a reaction that makes them go completely animalistic."

Everyone was very very still as Kyoya spoke.

Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, it was Tamaki who started talking and changed the subject.

"We can talk about this at a later date, for now, we should probably tell Nala what Maria said when she called."

Something in his tone told Nala that this news wasn't going to be any better than the stuff she just received. Haruhi was the one who delivered it though.

"Maddy is going to be coming earlier than expected. Maria said that means that unless we get this cleared up that she could have a target put on her back as well since she's family and a friend."

Nala face palmed and sweatdropped as she muttered an angry curse at whatever god had decided to dislike her and her life.

"I really can't win today can I?"

**Author's note**

Hello lovelies! Ya'll are gonna hate me but look! Another cliffhanger! I hope you all had wonderful holidays and a wonderful start to your new year! Apologies are in order form me for not getting this out sooner, I got caught up in school and family problems. Also, apparently midterms are a thing? I've never had to take them before so this will be my first year doing them and I'm really not sure if i should be stressing out or not yet since they're next week...Anyway, wish me luck on that, and wish Nala some luck on her life in general cause things are about to tart getting crazy. Did you guys like the new chapter? Lots of shady stuff goin on in here, don't hate me for making the twins mentally unstable, I promise there is a reason! All will eventually be revealed, anyway enjoy guys!

ALSO for those of you who care, I just remembered this, but I have a tumblr. I really only post a ridiculous amount of marvel and anime stuff, but hey if you're interested I'll post my user name here on my next updated?

Shout out to...

ktmyldy28 (Honestly it was about time to for Kyoya to get knocked down to size! See what i did there hehe? Gosh i have an awful sense of humor...)

ocean full of lies (Thank you :D I'm so glad you're enjoying it, honestly...I don't even know where I'm going with this half the time and then it just happens and I'm like ya know i can work with this blah blah blah)

animegal1357 (I DON"T KNOW MAN I GUESS I JUST LIKE THEM! I hope you enjoy this chapter though!)

killjarkidranger (a lot apparently)

Mely (Guest) (You caught my reference!? OH MY GOSH YES! Thanks though! I'm glad to hear i have yet another person who loves this story as much as i do right now!)

RainbowKitsune (Nope I haven't, I've heard it's good though, also, the link didn't come through so could you try resending it with maybe spaces or something so i can type it out? I"m so glad to hear you thought of my story though oh my goodness!)

hiiro kira + Mina-Abe-Lovelys + Lunarose jodes + RaVeNcLaW65 + Idek1998 + avengeful + Halo0001 + LobstaFace17 + Whitlock-Hale + MoonlightWolf16 + cassiegreen (Do you all see the list of you that have followed and faved me and this story!? You guys literally brought tears to my eyes, happy ones, but tears because i have never had anyone care or enjoy my writing so much before. Thank you all so much, you guys are the best)


	41. Chapter 40

Maddy wasn't expecting the call when it came. Then again, she was upside down leaning off her cousin's bed looking for the pen she'd dropped, and had fell off straight onto her head from her startled surprise when her phone suddenly started ringing in her bra. Rubbing her now aching head, she pulled it out and answered without checking the caller ID.

"'Ello, Madden Aisling speaking." There was no noise on the other end of the line, just silence. "Hello? Heeeellllloooo?" When there was still no answer, she shrugged and hung up.

_People are weird as all hell._

With a decisive nod at that thought, she went back to trying to crawl under the queen sized bed in an attempt to find her favorite pen. She had half her body under the bed when the second call came. Still not expecting the sudden loud noise, she jumped and then let out a nasty swear when she bashed her already aching head into the underside of the bed frame.

"What?"

Her answer was short and snappy, and yet again she answered without checking the caller ID.

"Madden come downstairs, there's a business acquaintance here you're going to meet."  
Swallowing hard at the edge to her father's voice, she whispered the word yes, cursing herself for not checking and answering in anger, and wiggled out backwards from under the bed. Ever since the last incident with her father, he'd been far more free with his fists than she'd ever believed he would be. Bruises lined their way up and down her stomach from where he liked to hit when he was in one of his new moods.

Blinking away tears and dropping her head to rub at her eyes, Maddy took a few deep breaths and stood up. Her family had been staying in Ireland for the past few weeks on one of their yearly trips to the country. A trip her father always hated with a burning passion and one that put him in a foul mood no matter what was said about it. Maddy secretly believed, although she would never mention it to his face or in his presence ever, that the reason it upset him was because his mother, the woman who controlled their clan with an iron fist, scared him.

Fallon Aisling was an impressive woman. Not tall, but not short, with eyes of steel blue that were always lit with determination and the backbone of a woman who knew what she wanted done and how to do it. Steely gray hair that she kept long and wore in a bun at the base of her neck, laugh lines at the corners of her eyes, and a burning hatred for injustice. Any who had dealings with the Aisling clan knew better than to lie to the little, old lady who could sniff out a lie better than a wolf could catch the scent of its' prey.

She showed the world more steel and backbone than grown men twice her size, and was able to scare off people easier than any of the aforementioned men could. Not that she would ever admit it, but anyone who knew her would know she had a soft spot for the daughter of her most disliked child. The son the family shunned had managed to have a daughter that the family adored.

Maybe it was the unusual hair, or the way her eyes changed with her mood, or maybe it was how she was a little ray of sunshine in the ancient Irish houses that hadn't seen true light inside of them in many years, or perhaps it was the gentle nature with the fiery personality that reminded them a little too much of the little old lady who ruled their house. Whatever the reason, the clan adored Maddy and would at a moments notice rise up to protect her and hers.

It scared Maddy at times when she realized exactly how devoted they were to her, yet when she was visiting and they were showering her with praises as if she was a long lost hero returning from war, she would look at her grandmother, and watch the way the woman's mouth would curl at the corners with a little smile as she nodded her head to Maddy in understanding. Yet she never offered her assistance then, always telling Maddy afterwards that it was best for a little princess to learn on her own. The nickname never failed to make Maddy smile. She adored the family's use of it and the way their voices always wrapped around her name with love and affection. Maybe it was from feeling so starved for it at home, but the love Maddy felt from her family members on this yearly trip made her never want to go back home.

She kept in touch with as many of the family as possible, exchanging letters and emails with those she didn't know as well, and calling those whom she did. No matter who they were in the large, very extended family, every single Aisling or Aisling relative had heard of the little Irish princess with eyes like the ocean and a compassion and a heart to match.

_How they're so blind to what really goes on shocks me…._

Maddy made her way slowly out of the room, her ever growing nerves causing her heart to accelerate, and she could've sworn she caught the lights flickering behind her as she made her way down the hall, but every time she glanced back they weren't.

_Weird. _

Focusing on her breathing as she navigated the numerous hallways in the old castle the main branch of the Aisling family referred to as home, she finally made her way down the front stairs and to a small sitting room off to the side where her father always took his guests.

Bracing herself, and sucking in a short breath, Maddy stepped forward and pushed the door open. She didn't know why she always thought the little sitting room would be dark and dismal, it never was and today was no exception. The sunlight streamed through the tall windows to paint itself across the hardwood floors and the cute furnisher that was spread throughout the room. At the moment, it was spilling itself over a couch on which sat a woman with short brown hair and quick, intelligent eyes.

Her father sat on a large leather chair across from the woman with a coffee table separating them.

"Maddy, I'd like you to meet Mrs Yuzuha Hitachiin secretary Chiho. She works for the fashion designer, and has seen some of the pictures that I sent her of you. At my request she has kindly and benevolently come herself to see you and talk to you."

Maddy blinked slowly. This wasn't what she was expecting, and she knew it was horribly unorthodox for the head of a fashion company to send their personal secretary to travel as far as this woman had to see just one girl.

_I wonder how much 'e 'ad to pay 'er to come here. Ugh._

At the noise of her father clearing his throat, she smiled as brightly as she could while ignoring the sly look in her father's eyes as he stared at her, and bowed to the woman in a much more Japanese fashion of respect.

"I'm pleased to meet you Chiho-san. Thank you for kindly coming the distance to meet me."

The woman looked pleasantly surprised at Maddy speaking her native language, as well as knowing the respectful formalities, and responded in kind with a sweet smile.

"Of course, I was in the area as it was for a fashion show and was more than pleased to come to meet you as actually just last week one of my models quit due to sudden domestic happiness." Her words were kind, but her eyes were assessing as they ran over Maddy. "You have unusual coloring my dear, not that that's a bad thing, but we see very few people in my line of work with your coloring and fair skin."

Flushing Maddy nodded her head.

"Yes, so I've been informed."

Her father cleared his throat and butted in, reminding both women of his presence.

"Yes, well, Maddy hasn't really done much modeling, but we've kept her slim and I'd like to keep her future prospects of finding a husband wide open and modeling would be a good way to do that straight after high school."

Maddy's eyebrows flew up at that. Not only was he being extremely rude in his address of the woman sitting across from him, but he seemed to be assuming Maddy's future for her. One that involved more fashion than schooling.

_And what kind of bloody frickin assumption is he making by sayin' he kept meh slim? A girl doesn't need to be slim or skinny to be beautiful!_

She could feel her anger at him swelling, but before either of them could say anything, a phone began ringing, and with a pleasant smile the woman, Chiho, turned and excused herself from the room for a moment to take the call. In the minutes she was gone, Maddy and her father had a silent stare down. The one glaring and ignoring the soft throbbing of the bruises on her ribs, and the other giving her the cold dead stare of a snake. A moment later, the door opened again to admit Chiho.

"I'm terribly sorry about this, but that was a personal call from my employers sons and I have to catch a plane immediately back to Japan. Miss Aisling," she turned to Maddy with another one of those warm open smiles. "This is my personal number, I'd very much like to get in touch with you to talk about that modeling if _you're _interested in it yourself." The emphasis she put on those last words made Maddy smile because she knew the woman had been able to read her father's intentions easily.

Accepting the card, she reached out and shook the woman's hand, and turned to walk with her to the door after a few more shared pleasantries and showed the woman out herself.

_I mean we seem to have dropped a lot of the formalities of one of theses meetings as is, so why not?_

Before she could get caught by her father who she knew would demand the card from her so he could make the arrangements, she darted up the stairs to her grandmother's rooms, and saved the number. With a small smile on her face as she glanced at the front of the card where it litted the company's main branch, she felt her smile grow.

Ouran city, right where she needed to be in a few weeks, perhaps she could make this work out if they'd be interested in a bit of a sudden trip from er to come meet them in person about the job.

And without knowing it, unorthodox as it was, Maddy now had the perfect excuse to travel to Japan to see Nala.

_Thanks for once dad, you've done something good for me._

And that, was how Maddy began to plan a trip to Ouran, as well as her first introduction to the Hitachiin family company.

**Authors note**

Shhh I know this is a short chapter and definitely not one of my better ones, BUT I needed a way for Maddy to get to Japan and viola! Roll with it this will make sense soon enough hehe! Anyway, we'll be back in Japan with Nala next time I submit a chapter and we'll be sticking with her for a bit, but thoughts and opinions on this chapter anyone? As you all know, I always enjoy your reviews, and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is always welcomed! :D

Shout out to….

killjarkidranger (Yeah there really is always something going wrong isn't there?)

Guest (Thank you so much! I'm glad you're enjoying this! Thanks for letting me know :D)

animegal1357 (Shhh all will end well! Maybe…. ;) )

Lootmagoot (Guest) (PM me if you log in and we can talk and I can explain some stuff for you, also we can talk about the points you brought up that you don't like so I can work on them.)

ktmyldy28 (Hehe all will be revealed eventually, you'll see, but just say you're right with it for now, would you be ok with that?)

nedrag94 + bobisfake0 + bored411 + Kerva (Thanks for the follows and favs guys!)


	42. Chapter 41

It was three days since Nala had been released from the private hospital room, and five days since the attack of the Aka Manto. She'd been trying to get in touch with Maddy for several days now, still with no results, and she had the feeling she was forgetting something important that would remind her of where her cousin had gone off to.

_She really doesn't travel much though….her father doesn't let her travel remember? UGH WHY IS THIS SO COMPLICATED!?_

"Speaking of complicated, we still have the matter of physical examinations coming up. We managed to get through it last time, but this year with all the doctors who will be coming in and out of the school I have a bad feeling about this."

"Wait….did I say that out loud?"

Kyoya glanced over at her from where he was sitting on the other side of the small table in the club doing finances and raised an eyebrow.

"Yes Nala you did. I'm thinking we'll have Maria come in and stick by you throughout the day. I already called her and asked her to stop by for a quick briefing."

"What day?"

"Did something happen?"

Nala jumped a bit at the voices right behind her and turned to find the rest of the hosts gathered there with worried looks.

"Oh not me guys don't worry, it's about the physical exams coming up again."

"NO I WON'T LET THEM TOUCH MY DARLING HARUHI I CAN'T BEAR THE THOUGHT!"

"Senpai no one would be touching me…."

Tamaki didn't hear her, instead growing pale at whatever he was imagining in his inner mind theater and swooning to the ground as his spirit started floating away from his body.

"BOSS!"

The twins were instantly there, grabbing at his soul and trying to shove it into his now overdramatically prone body. Haruhi merely shook her head and muttered in annoyance under her breath. Chuckling, Nala stepped over to her.

"Ya know Haru, if i didn't know how hard he had fallen for you, I would think he's not straight with how he acts sometimes with men and women alike and the drama he throws into everything."

She shoved Nala's shoulder playfully and scowled.

"Oh yeah totally and I'd think that Kyoya was the leader of a gang of assassins."

Both girls both paused to glance back at the brooding boy who was having a quiet discussion with Mori over something. His face had a pleasant smile on it, but his eyes were sly as always behind his ever flashing glasses. Haruhi and Nala looked back at each other, and broke down laughing. Gasping for breath, with tears in her eyes, Nala shook her head at her best friend as they held onto each other to keep from falling down.

"Haruhi we both know that that's probably not that far from the truth!"

She sniggered.

"I'll have to work on my come backs with you."

We were still laughing to each other when the knock at the clubroom door came and Mori stood to open it. As the door swung open, it revealed a tall, American woman with curly, blonde hair, and cornflower blue eyes. With a gasp, Nala straightened and took off across the room.

"MARIA!"

Laughing the woman braced herself for Nala's hug and was ready for when the girl crashed into her.

"Hey there kiddo it's been a few weeks huh?"

Or course, they'd kept in touch through phone calls and texts, but with Maria needing to work not only on Nala's case, but others as well, and being the lead detective on catching officer Tokiya, she had been a bit too busy for afternoon coffee.

"It's been...eventful."

Nala was careful with her words, mainly because she knew that Maria didn't know about the hosts, but also just because she didn't feel comfortable discussing issues of believing in magic with the woman. Family or not, it wasn't a safe topic to discuss especially with how private she'd come to realize the world of magic was about it's secrets.

"I'm sure." Maria raised an eyebrow. "Now, would anyone care to explain to me why Mr. Ootori called me down here?"

"Ah yes. Thank you for coming detective." Kyoya stood and approached to shake her hand. "We had a bit of a matter that is coming up that we realized will need your attention."

"I'm listening."

Maria stepped past him and went to the table, sitting down and smoothing out the wrinkles on her dress pants at the action. Kyoya followed, and sat across from her, chin resting gently on his hands.

"Well, you see, physical examinations are coming up, and as such there will be quite a few strangers coming in and out of the building. We deemed it prudent to have you come and stay with Nala during the time because even though we're bringing in one of my family doctors to discreetly examine her herself, there will still be a great deal of strangers in the building so if Nala's enemies wanted a time to strike, it would be the perfect opportunity."

Maria nodded, her cornflower blue eyes solemn.

"Agreed. Speaking of enemies, officer Tokiya has been rather quiet of late. He hasn't been flirting up a storm like he normally does, and he's kept to himself. So something has happened within their organization that's gotten the pressure going on him."

The hosts stared at her as she spoke, and when she stopped the twins chipped in.

"So,"

"Does this mean,"

"That he'll make a mistake soon?"

"And you'll be able to get him?"

Mori nodded his agreement and Honey bounced around with a happy grin at the thought.

Nala on her part, looked at their exuberant faces at that thought, and even though she felt joy at the prospect, she really just felt tired. She was tired of looking over her shoulder, the lack of sleep because of the creaking noises throughout the apartment that kept her up at night, the worry that plagued her daily thoughts, and the confusion over how she had really gotten caught up in all of this.

Letting out a sigh, Nala joined in the conversation.

"Yeah, it would be really nice if they did. I'm so done with all of this and in all honesty I still don't really understand what's happening."

Maria glanced at her sadly.

"I know hun, it'll be over soon hopefully though and everything will be normal again. Since we hit dead ends on backtracking with Tokiya's records, we've been going through yours and your parent's to see if anyone could have any motivation against you."

"But who could have a motive against Nal-chan?"

Honey stared up at Maria with his big eyes opened wide, but as Nala stared at him, she noticed something she hadn't before. His eyes were so full of life. They were so open and quick, so full of a lightening intelligence that she hadn't seen in anyone but Kyoya before.

It shocked her seeing it and only just realizing that this child like young man, was in fact on par with the infamous Ootori. Glancing away in shock, she caught Haruhi looking at her, but to her surprise, Haruhi just nodded her head and mouthed the words 'I know' in complete understanding.

"We don't know yet. Against Nala there's really nothing I can think of or that has come up that gives anyone motive against her. Her father though," she shot Nala an apologetic look, "Well, he's a different story, but at the same time all the people we've checked out don't have enough motive to go for his daughter now that he's dead."

"Damn Nala, someone seriously hates you."

_Seriously hates….seriously hates….where have I…._

"IRELAND!"

Her sudden outburst surprised the other hosts, and Tamaki who had appeared out of nowhere spoke up.

"All of Ireland hates you?"

He looked highly confused.

"Huh? Wait, what? No! Ireland is where Maddy is! i just remembered because you guys were talking about people who seriously hate me, and I was over here like well Maddy's dad hates my guts, and then I remembered that's where she is, and I'm going to shut up now."

Nala stopped rambling at the looks the hosts were giving her.

The twins were full of humorous confusion, Haruhi was laughing at the shocked looks of the other hosts, Tamaki and Honey was gaping at her as she chattered while Mori looked on with laughter in his eyes, and Maria and Kyoya had calculating gazes as they stared at her.

"He hates you...I hadn't thought of that…"

"Do you think it's worth investigating Maria?"

Nala refused to let it irk her over Kyoya's comfortable use of the pretty, blonde woman's name, and the congenial way they got along.

"It could be worth investigating."

_They can't be serious._

"Guys there's no way that Maddy's dad is responsible for this. I mean sure he hates my guts, but he's family…"

Maria raised an eyebrow, and Kyoya behind her at the table did the same.

_They think way too much alike it's scary._

"Nala you've gotta take into account that married couples try to murder each other some time, parents abuse their kids," she looked pointedly at me, "distant family rape and sexually abuse others in the family. You can't take too much stock in them being family."

Nala sighed heavily, shoulders slumping as she realized what Maria said was true.

"It's ok Nala,"

"It's why you have us."

The twins were suddenly there, with their arms around her shoulders and grins on their faces.

"Yeah! The host club is a family!"

Honey clambered up her leg like a monkey, and Mori nodded with a "hm" of agreement as he patted her head. Tamaki from where he stood behind Kyoya with his arm around Haruhi's waist smiled and happy voiced his agreement in his own goofy way.

Without even realizing it, a smile had crept up over Nala's face at the antics of the hosts, and in that moment, she realized just exactly how much she really cared about them. Even if they weren't family by blood, they were the only family she would ever need to get through anything.

*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V

The sorcerer looked at the bloody mess on his table and huffed his anger. It had failed again. It seemed that no matter how many times he tried it, he couldn't perfectly meld the two bodies. They always came out like this. He turned away from the bloody mess of indistinguishable lumps on the old fashioned metal operating table, and stepped closer to the shaking man in the corner. He could smell the heat from where the man had wet himself in fear, and the rank smell of vomit was splattered across the floor and walls by the man.

"Officer Tokiya," The creature purred the man's name, and lightly ran it's claws over the concrete walls, enjoying the way the officer flinched in fear on the ground. "That, was a warning. If we don't get the girl soon for his lordship, I'm afraid that the next time you're down here with me, well, it won't just be to watch. Understood?"

The man whimpered and curled in tighter on himself as if he could block out the horror he had just witnessed happen. Sighing, the sorcerer jerked a hand carelessly towards the exit.

"You're free to go now."

Officer Tokiya scrambled to his feet and staggered towards the exit, carefully not looking at the blood splattered floors, or the body on the table. When he reached the rope ladder that led to the freedom that sunlight and clean air brought with them, the sorcerer called his name making him freeze with his hand on the ladder to stable it.

"Tokiya, remember, do not strike right now that they are expecting it. Wait till their vulnerable moments. If you do that, well, you're far less likely to end up on that table with the poor animals hm? Run away now little boy, I have things to do that would scare you far more than what you just witnessed,a nd since I don't see the need to shatter your mind right now, get out."

The officer was gone within seconds, leaving behind him only the swinging rope ladder, and the thick stench of fear. The sorcerer stood in the shadows of the room well away from the scarce light that the candles provided as he thought things over. Seemingly coming to some sort of decision, it turned, crossed the room with long strides and jerked open a door on the far wall that showed stairs that descended down into a darkness so black it felt tangible.

He needed to tell his master that the time was approaching, and that the contract would soon be fulfilled.

A glance back before he shut the door, and the monster carelessly shrugged before slamming the door with with a bang. The blood and body didn't bother him, if anything it's stench would keep people even farther away from his hidden abode than they normally did.

It had been a good day, maybe tomorrow he would try the spell he had created to meld animals and humans.

Maybe, if he was lucky, this time it would come out right.

**Author's Note**

Ok, so I know it's been a little while since we had a new chapter, BUT it's finally here! I hope it met everyone's expectations, and that you enjoy it. To bo entirely honest I had the most fun writing the sorcerer's part. It felt good to be switching up the viewpoint and having a little more of a dark undertone because I feel like the hosts have been a little lax when it comes to showing how serious the situation is. Anyway, what did you all think? I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and also happy febuary vacation from me! i hope you all enjoy yours! I may have another chapter up next week, but I can't promise that right now. Enjoy.

Shout out to…

Kerva (As much as I want to answer that, you'll have to wait and see where her story goes because it's separate)

animegal1357 (AGREED! Don't worry though things are gonna start happening real soon)

bobisfake0 (Hehe I'm glad you enjoyed that! PM me if you can and we can talk about your bio there?)

ocean full of lies (Not at all! You're on a good track with that ! Shipping all around woohoo! Sorry sleep deprivation from midterms has me all out of whack)

ktmyldy28 (Shush of course you don't waste my time with your words! I truly enjoy responding to all the reviews :) As it is, I'm glad this chapter opened up all those questions for you guys because it means I'm on the right track, you'll have to wait and see where it goes though!)

Kerva + Black konako + AprilDaniel + bobisfake0 + MeganElizabeth99 + Mizuki6655 + Da DJ Jazzy Maxyne + Nimue Tsukikoi + Anghel Ni Kamatayan + CalicoKitty402 + SpaceWolf19 + Naiya Elise + DiamondThief360 + RhinoFangirl532 + NotTellingYou5334 + skittlelover1998 (You're all literally AMAZING so thank you all for the follows/favs!)


	43. Chapter 42

Nala was scared, she could feel the sweat sliding down her spine as she hid in a darkened corner of a hallway. She couldn't remember how she'd gotten there, just that she had been running as fast as her legs would carry her, running to escape, because she was afraid. Afraid of what you may ask? Well, what every person with a sensible constitution should be afraid of. Needles.

Nala had been in the exam room with the doctor readying herself for the doctor to turn to come to her. They had already taken down her height and weight, and had gone over all the other basics as well, but the doctor had requested her to stay for an extra moment. Her nerves had instantly kicked in, and even Haruhi had tensed up when the doctor spoke. Maria, who had been leaning by the door on the other side of the room playing the silent bodyguard, had lifted her eyes in quick awareness as she tracked the doctor's movements. The rest of the hosts were having their exams done, so they weren't in the room to feel the tension level shoot up.

"Now, i was just looking over your records and i saw you're due for a flu shot, so we're just going to give you one really fast. Mr Ootori has filled me in on the situation, so if you'd like detective you are free to check what I'm using to verify that I'm not doing anything you're uncomfortable with?"

Maria sighed in relief, and shook her head with a pleasant smile at the kind hearted nurse.

"No that won't be necessary thank you though."

"Of course, now Miss Fuyumi-"

"NO!"

With that strangled cry, Nala bolted off the table and out the door in a full blown panic.

"Nala!"

Maria shouted after her and went to run after her, but Haruhi caught her arm.

"Wait Maria you can't go running out there it'll draw too much attention. I'll call Kyoya."

So saying, Haruhi released Maria's arm, and pulled out her phone. After dialing the number, she put the phone to her ear and waited.

"Yes Haruhi?"

Haruhi winced at what she had to tell the shadow lord, but mustered her courage and explained what had happened.

"Nala kinda, well, took off."

"Excuse met?"

_He does not sound happy….._

"Well, she's terrified of needles, and she didn't take too kindly to the idea of getting her flu shot."

Kyoya sighed heavily on the other end of the line.

"I'll go find her, don't leave the room."

There was a vague, underlying, almost threatening note in his voice as he hung up, and Haruhi wasn't sure who it was directed at, but she sure hoped Nala would be ready for Kyoya's temper when he came to find her.

*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*

_Stupid needles, and stupid nurses with needles…_

Nala was wandering some of the back halls of the school in her attempt to avoid having to go back for the shot, and was taking great pride in the fact she hadn't been found yet. She knew it may not have been smart to be wandering after her last incident in the school that involved her being alone with the Aka Manto, but in that moment she didn't care.

_In all honesty, I think i'd rather take the Aka Manto on than go back and have to get that shot._

Nala hated needles with a passion. Not because of a bad doctor, or shots hurting, no, it stemmed from her love and protectiveness of her cousin Maddy. She still remembered how sickly Maddy had always gotten as a child, and how often she had to go to the doctors to get checked up on for various things. The incident that had stuck with Nala however, had been something that Maddy had once told her in private when they were children.

"_I always ha' nightmares about needles Nals. Everytime I close meh eyes it's jus' these giant people wi' needles come and chase meh, and I canna escape 'em, They hold meh down and it always hurts so badly."_

_Nala turned to her sweet, tiny little cousin and picked up her hand. Maddy had always had a thick accent as a child, and it had been what first endeared Nala to her when they first met. She had such a pretty lilting way of speech, and hearing it thicken with fear now awoke a protective instinct in her that Nala wouldn't know then, but would be one that got her in boat loads of trouble as she grew older._

"_If you hate needles Maddy, then I will too! If you get hurt I'm hurt, so we can both be scared neh?"_

_Maddy turned her ocean blue eyes towards Nala and stared up at her older cousin in awe._

"_Wouldja?"_

_Patting her hand with a bright smile Nala nodded her head and promised Maddy._

Of course, Nala had no idea that her promise as a child, and her stubborn attitude would be the beginning of her phobia. It wasn't something that had been caused by an external force, but rather, a fear that was self taught as a child, and had only grown as she got older. Now, here she was, sixteen years old and hiding in the back halls of a rich person school in an attempt to avoid getting that flu shot.

"Ugh damn it all, why can't I get over this! I know I made that promise but really Maddy isn't sickly anymore, and she has gotten over her hatred of needles so why has this stuck with me!"

Choosing to glare at the wall in anger, Nala let out a huff and kicked it in frustration.

"I don't think kicking the wall is going to help any Nala."

With a gasp, she spun to face the voice, finding none other than Kyoya Ootori standing there behind her.

"Oh hey Ootori. So I guess you're here to drag me back for the, uh, nurse stuff?"

"You mean the flu shot?"

Nala winced and shuddered at the word.

"Yeahhhh that….."

Kyoya raised an eyebrow at her in surprise.

"So let me get this straight, you can face down supernatural creatures without hesitation, but when it comes to the doctors you're terrified of a needle?"

"Well, when you put it like that it sounds kinda pathetic, but yeah pretty much."

Kyoya shook his head at her with a sigh.

"Nala you can't not get the shot, you have to go back, even if I have to force you."

Nala stuck out her chin in defiance.

"I don't wanna!"

"You sound like a child."

"I don't wanna!"

"Nala stop playing and come along."

He took a step forward, and Nala took a step back, putting her back directly against the hall wall.

_Whoops._

Kyoya took another step, crowding her personal space, and reaching up he put a hand on the wall beside her head. He was dangerously close, and with his glasses flashing he cut an intimidating figure.

_He smells like cleanness. _

It was true, with Kyoya standing that close to her in the empty hall, she could smell his clean scent, and the slight minty smell on his breath as he looked down at her. After a lifetime of smelling nothing but alcohol on her father, and Haruhi's own father's use of female perfume, the clean, unaltered smell that was Kyoya's was practically intoxicating. For a moment, Nala forgot why he was there, leaning into her like that, and all she wanted was to bury her face into his jacket and keep smelling that clean, masculine scent.

"Nala?"

Kyoya was speaking to her, and she'd been so busy thinking about how he smelled that she had missed all of it.

_Oh shit._

Blushing furiously, Nala averted her green eyes from his own slate ones, and asked him to repeat his question.

"I asked if you would come back to the room. It'll be fast I promise."

_He's being so gentle about it, why isn't he trying to force me? _

Her eyes slid back to his, and as she caught his eyes, she saw a flicker of soft emotion in them as he stared down at her. It was brief, nothing overly sappy, or romantic, or even heated, but it was a gentle affection that she didn't think he had meant for her to see since as soon as she looked back his face became a cold mask of indifference.

_I didn't imagine that right? I don't think i did. I hope not…._ Another glance to the side before she looked back at him. _Ready to take a risk Nala? Hell yeah I am._

"I'll only go back if you stay with me."

Shocked surprise flitted over his expression before it disappeared and he stepped away from her slowly, pulling his arm away from beside her head.

_Oh shoot I've blown it no what did I do!? Crap what if he didn't realize that I meant in the room not in my life, should I try to correct it!? _

Nala stood there blushing furiously and mentally yelling at herself and was so caught up in her own thoughts that she almost missed his sigh and the put upon words that came from him next.

"Fine I'll stay in the room with you if it makes you feel better."

Freezing, Nala slowly looked up at him to where he now stood several feet away.

"REALLY?!" He winced at the volume in her voice as she shouted the word at him.

"Yes Nala, now come back to the room and for the love of all that this school is built for would you please keep your voice down?"

Grinning like a fool, Nala shoved away the thought of the shot and chose to focus on the fact that he had said yes to her request. As if reading her thoughts, Kyoya shook his head at her in reproval.

"For taking up time that could be used towards club finances, that's another thousand yen added onto your debt."

"WHAT!? Hey!" Nala shouted after him as he turned and began walking away. "You listen hear mister! That's not fair at all!"

He merely chuckled and glanced back at her, glasses flashing as he smirked.

"Should I add on more for yelling after I told you not to?"

Scowling at him Nala muttered something about him being a control freak, and if he heard it, he chose not to comment, instead walking on down the hall and leaving her to catch up.

When she did, he asked, without looking at her,

"Why are you afraid of needles?"

Sighing, Nala looked out the windows they were walking by as fear tightened her stomach and made her chest tight.

"It's kind of a self induced fear…"

And she began to tell him the story.

*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*

By the time they reached the nurse's private room, Kyoya knew the story, and had not said anything in response to it. Rather, he had nodded his head in silence and kept walking. As they stepped into the room both Maria and Haruhi looked up at their entrance.

"Nala! Don't you ever do that again I was so worried until Haruhi explained to me that you don't like needles."

Chuckling awkwardly as she rubbed the back of her neck and pointedly didn't look at the nurse across the room Nala responded.

"Yeah...Sorry about that Maria, I got scared and didn't think about it before I ran."

Smiling at her, Maria came over and ruffled her hair.

"Don't stress it. We're all scared of something, even Kyoya there is." Nala's curious eyes slipped over to the aforementioned boy, who just stared back at them with a raised eyebrow and an indifferent shrug."Even if he pretends he isn't." Maria finished her statement loudly as she glanced at him with a smirk. One that he returned in full. It made Nala's gut churn uncomfortably to have him doing that with Maria.

_And it's definitely not because I'm jealous. Nope, not at all._

…_._

_Ok I may be a little jealous_

With a small sigh, Nala dropped her head and stepped around the detective.

"Yeah even so, i should probably get this over with."

She was shying closer to the nurse in slow hesitant steps that betrayed how nervous she really was about the shot. The nurse smiled at her with kind eyes.

"Dom't worry sweetheart, you'll barely feel a thing."

_I wish._

Finally stepping up next to the nurse, Nala pushed herself up onto the small table used for the checkups and resolutely looked away from the nurse who already, eerily fast, had the needle ready.

_Dom't think about it, don't think about it, don't think about it._

She felt the pinch as it slid through the skin of her shoulder and into the muscle, the awful pressure and sting that followed as the needle's contents were released into the muscle, and she couldn't help but let out a small whimper of pain as her stomach decided to start flip flopping in circles as the nurse gently slapped a bandaid on.

As she opened her eyes finally, she got to see the door close behind Kyoya just as he left.

_Well damn and here I thought he was gonna stay for it all._

with a sigh and a queasy stomach, Nala slid off the table.

"Who else votes we go for ice cream? I definitely deserve ice cream for this."

Haruhi shot her a quick grin and nodded.

"But only if you're paying."

With a laugh, Maria tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder and wiggled her eyebrows.

"It's my treat girls. C'mon, let's go! I know a nice little place a little bit away from my station. It's pretty cheap so you'll like it Haruhi, and it it's pretty good too Nala so don't worry about that. Besides, the school day only has like an hour left and that's all physical exams anyway, so I vote we end our day playing hooky!"

"Hooky?"

Haruhi turned curious eyes on Maria at her use of American slang.

"It means skipping school for fun, it's one of those weird American terms we have."

"Then I most definitely second that and Haruhi don't worry we won't get in trouble and it won't affect your grades or your scholarship so let's go and have some fun!"

With grins, one that was a little more forced than the others due to a certain boy's strange behaviour and a look in his eyes that she couldn't get out of her head, Maria and Nala grabbed Haruhi and headed out for ice cream.

**Authors Note**

**Please read, this one is important.**

Hello all! So it hasn't been quite as long since my last update, thank goodness, but i actually had a lot of fun writing this chapter! HEHE Kyola feels. What did you guys think? I've decided I'm gonna start winding this story to a close soon, I think Nala's chapter is almost ready to be finished and for Maddy's to start. Don't worry, there will definitely be quite a few more chapters for Cat's Eyes, but it'd definitely time for me to stop dragging this out. What do you guys think? I need your opinions on this.

Also, when I start the sequel, are any of you guys going to be interested in it or is it just gonna be a dying story? It's not separate, it's a continuation of this story but from Maddy's POV. Trust me, it's important and Nala is still a huge part of this story. Please let me know what you all think as it's quite important for me to get an idea of how I should finish this story.

Thank you!

Now, shout out to…..

soapandapples + DestinyOrton + ( Thanks for the follows/favs guys! Trust me, it is very appreciated!)

ocean full of lies ( Yes I live, Kyoya hasn't sued me yet, but with the amount of host club secrets i've been spilling and am gonna spill he just might try that. Nala has come a long way, and I won't lie I'm proud of her, but we'll see what happens in her near future)

bobisfake0 ( Ok! Yeah, it shouldn't be ending any time soon, and even when this one does there's still the sequel!)

animegal1357 (No I don't get the reference noooo! What was it to?)


	44. Chapter 43

The ice cream was amazing. Sticky and dripping down her fingers like she was a child who didn't care, Nala happily followed Maria and Haruhi as they walked through the shopping district in the center of town. Slurping at her ice cream off the side of the cone, Nala paused to look into a dress shop. It was a high end one, and she knew without looking that the prices were far higher than she could ever afford, but it didn't stop her from wanting to look.

"Hey guys!" Her voice caused both Maria and Haruhi who were a few steps ahead of her to pause and turn. "Can we finish our ice cream and go in and try on these dresses? It looks like fun!"

"Nala," Haruhi's voice was warning, "Those look expensive."

Nala waved her free hand in a casual dismissal of the words.

"It's ok, we're not going in to buy them, we're gonna go in to look and try some on for fun. It's been too long since we've done something like this."

Haruhi couldn't hide the sparkle in her eyes as she glanced at the gorgeous creations on their mannequins inside the shop window.

"Well, it couldn't hurt to look..."

"Perfect!" Nala went took a step towards the store, before pausing with a dubious eye on her sticky hand and the dripping cone. "I should finish this first and wash my hands before we go in, wait here I'll be right back."

So saying, she swallowed the last bit of her ice cream and cone and dashed down the street into a small restaurant to go and wash her hands in the bathroom.

It was early spring, so not overly warm, but not as cold as the winter months had been. Thinking back on it, Nala paused as she left the washroom. It had been late summer when she'd tumbled off her neighbor's roof and into the open arms of the hosts with their willingness to help, and desire to keep her and her cousin safe. So, she thought about it for a moment, it had been about seven months now that she had been with the hosts. With a smile that Nala couldn't keep off her face at the thought of how close she'd come to be with the hosts, and the adventures they had been on so far, she exited the bathroom, and left the restaurant.

As she walked down the street, her eyes bright and happy, she mentally did some more math and paused dead still in the center of the street causing people walking behind her to grumble and snap rudely at her as she were forced to walk around her. She didn't care though, rather quite the opposite as she let out a little squeal.

_Maddy will be here in less than three weeks!_

With a small squeal, Nala pulled out her phone and sent that to her cousin in a quick text, before slipping it back into her pocket and heading back down the street to where Haruhi and Maria were waiting.

Nala could hardly wait for the day her cousin arrived. It may have been many years since they had seen each other, and they had only just started talking again recently, but she knew that bond they had had as both family and close friend's had never faded. It was a friendship built to withstand time, and Nala was determined that no matter what happened, she would keep that friendship, and her cousin, safe.

As she walked down the street, she saw a flash out of the corner of her eye and spun to see what it was, only to find nothing there. It was one of those moments when you see something, or someone move and then when you turn they are not there.

_Weird._

With a shrug, Nala turned back and kept walking down the street. When she got back to Haruhi and Maria, she had all but forgotten about the incident and was only excited to look at the dresses.

The three girls stepped into the store, chattering excitedly about colors and fabrics.

"I feel like you could wear a deep green well Nala, it would bring out your eyes."

"Agreed," Maria added onto Haruhi's statement, "A green of any color really, or maybe a nice yellow?"

"It would definitely depend on the shade of yellow, some yellow washes me out really badly and I end up looking like a sickly little kid."

So on and so forth, the girls greeted the sales associate, and began to browse.

"These are beautiful guys, look at this one!"

"Oh my, that shade of pink is perfect Haruhi!"

"Try it! Try it!"

With much laughter, and happiness, the girls tried on dress after dress, took pictures, and secretly envied the rich women and girls who could buy any dress in the store with their pocket change. All the while making sure no one who would recognize Haruhi came into the store since that would be rather hard to explain. They must have spent hours in the store, and it was growing dark when Maria's phone began to ring. With a grimace she grabbed it and answered.

"Maria speaking. …. Yes sir...No sir I was unaware of that….Yes, I'll head back now….Mmmhmm…..Yes….Yes….Of course, I'm on my way." With that, and a sigh, she hung up. "Sorry guys, but it looks like I have to head back to the station, so I have to take you guys back home."

With a worried glance at Haruhi, Nala looked back at Maria.

"Sure, yeah, not a problem, but is everything ok?"

Maria nodded.

"Yeah. Just something confusing came up, and before you ask it's confidential so I can't tell you what it is."

"Darn."

With a laugh at Nala's pout, Haruhi re-hung a dress she had been looking at, and nodded at Maria.

"I have studying to get done, so we should go."

"Wet blanket."

They both chose to ignore Nala's teasing remark, and nodded at each other.

"Should I drop you off at the school, or at your house Haruhi?"

Haruhi glanced at Nala.

"My house. The club is closed by now."

With a nod, Maria held out her arms from her side in the universal gesture of 'link arms with me' and beckoned towards the door.

"Shall we?"  
Nala stepped up and slid her arm through Maria's and they both pulled Haruhi over to link arms with before marching out of the store with laughter on their lips. They walked down the street to Maria's car, and after sliding in headed for Haruhi's apartment. When they got there, Haruhi and Nala slid out of the car after hugging Maria and waved goodbye as they walked up the steps of the apartment complex. Upon getting to the door, Nala stepped aside to let Haruhi unlock it after her friend grabbed her keys from her school bag.

"Nala, what are you doing?"

"Waiting for you to open the door?"

"Don't you have your keys though?'

"Er, no. I forgot them today."

With a frown, Haruhi continued digging through her bag, but after a few moments stopped and looked at Nala with a confused face.

"Nala I can't find my keys. I think I forgot them this morning too."

Nala sweatdropped.

"Wait, what you're telling me is that both of us forgot our keys, and we are locked outside of our home with the forgotten keys on the other side?"

Now it was Haruhi's turn to sweatdrop.

"Yes."

"Well this is just wonderful. I guess it looks like we'll be waiting for Ranka to get home."

"He isn't coming home tonight remember? He has the night shift at work tonight."

"ARE YOU SERIOUS!?" Groaning, Nala slid down the wall next to the door. "I'm so hungry Haru! What if we get stuck out here all night! I'm going to be forced to whither away into nothing from lack of food! What do you expect me to do!?"

Shaking her head as she looked down at Nala, Haruhi spoke.

"First of all Nala, you sound like Tamaki about food right now, secondly, we have phones. We can call Kyoya-senpai and the problem will be solved."

_Oh yeah….I'm an idiot._

"Good idea Haru,' grunting as she stood up from the floor, Nala gestured towards the phone Haruhi held. "Sorry for the momentary breakdown, I am really hungry so we should call and have him get us and bring us food. What would I do without you?"

Haruhi smirked at Nala.

"Get into far too much trouble. I'll call him and have him come give me one second."

As Haruhi dialed Kyoya's number, Nala glanced around them. They were on the second floor of the apartment complex, overlooking the quiet street, and it was beginning to grow dark. With an uneasy glance at the setting sun, Nala shot out a quick prayer that Kyoya would hurry his butt down to get them because strange things had had a tendency recently to start showing up to kill her when it was dark. Nala really did not want to repeat the Aka Manto experience over again.

Standing a the railing, she heard Haruhi on the phone behind her, but her mind was too caught up in the crazy events of the past few months.

Even as she thought about it, there was a buzzing in her back pocket. Pulling her phone out, she frowned upon seeing it was an unknown number before answering it.

"Hello?"

"Is this Nala Fuyumi?"

"Yes, can I help you?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line before the strange man spoke again.

"I do believe you can. You know who I am Miss Fuyumi. I've tried taking you by force already, but I see now that that wasn't the way to do it. You always seem to have a magical ability to escape me."  
"Tokiya."

His voice was nothing but a gasp of horror from her lips when she whispered it. With a cruel chuckle he responded.

"The one and only, now, I have a proposition for you Miss Fuyumi. I am offering you one last chance to come to me before I come and take you by force. And trust me, this time I won't let you slip out of my fingers."

"Never." Nala all but gasped the word out, her legs threatening to buckle underneath her as she began to shake. They had never imagined this being how he got in touch with her. "I will never give up to you."

The cruel laughter drifted over the line again.

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice Miss Fuyumi, it's just a matter of how you come to me. Will it be by your own violation? Or do I need to get a little more rough with you hm?"

Anger filled Nala at his snide words and threats, and strength filled her voice as she growled back at the man over the phone in a way that would have had the twins nodding their pride.

"You listen here you asshole. I will never come to you, and there's nothing you can do to me that would ever make me give myself up. I'm going to destroy you Officer Tokiya, and by the time I'm done with you you'll be the one begging me."

_Maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but being around Kyoya has taught me a lot. _

Even as she thought that, and listened to the silence from Tokiya's end of the line, she realized her mistake. Apparently Tokiya picked up on it too.

"Nothing I can do to you hm? Who said I was going to do something to you? If I recall correctly, you're cousin is coming to visit in a few weeks, and you have your darling best friend Haruhi Fujioka no? I'm sure they wouldn't mind a quick visit from me would they?"

"You bastard! Stay away from them!"

His laugh was ugly now.

"You have two weeks to make your decision Nala Fuyumi. I'll be in touch."

With that, there was a click on the other end of the line, and a moment later the phone began to beep to announce the ended call. Pale and shaking, Nala clutched the phone tighter in her hand and stared down at the blocked number that was still flashing on the screen of her phone. Slowly, she turned to face Haruhi who was standing a few feet away caught up in scolding Tamaki over the phone.

Tears began to fill Nala's eyes. She had two weeks to figure out a way to save her friends from this psychotic man who was after her. How was she supposed to do that? Panic began to set in, and she glanced around herself wildly and turned back to grip the metal railing at her back in a vice like grip. Suddenly the street didn't seem quite so friendly, and as the shadows continued to lengthen, Nala's panic grew.

"Nala?" Spinning back to face her best friend, Nala knew that whatever Haruhi saw on her face wasn't good, and with a hurried command to get to the apartment because something was wrong, Haruhi hung up and hurried to her friend. "What happened?"

Haruhi's big, brown, doe-like eyes were staring directly at Nala who she could feel her heart thumping in her chest, and the tears burning behind her eyes.

"Haruhi. He called me. I have two weeks to save you and come up with a plan. I don't know what to do!"

With a soft sob as the reality of the situation crashed down around her once more after the pleasant day she'd had, Nala let herself fall into Haruhi's arms and cry. They stood there for a few moments, before a voice came from the far end of the walkway, and quick steps sounded coming nearer to them.

"We come up with a plan Nala. No one is taking you, and I have people tracing the call right now." Whipping their heads around, the girls gaped as they found none other than Kyoya Ootori striding toward them. "I had a vision this would happen, so I came to get you since it was the most logical thing to do. You'll both come and stay with the hosts to be kept safe."

He was standing in front of them now, his dark eyes serious and angry, his glasses catching the light and his hands tucked into the front pockets of his designer jeans. He fairly reeked of anger, but not anger at the them, Nala knew that. No, anger at the people who would threaten people he cared about.

Without thinking about it, Nala pulled herself out of Haruhi's arms, and with a strangled noise of sadness and hope, more animalistic than human, she threw herself at Kyoya and wrapped her arms around his waist. He was warm, and solid, and for a moment it was nice to lean against someone she knew would protect her so Nala let herself melt into the hug she was giving him.

"Thank you."

Her whisper slid around them, and for a moment, standing there in the sunset, it was just the two of them.

Without a word, Kyoya slowly pulled his hands out of his pockets, and slid his arms around Nala to return the hug, and even as he did that, Nala could have sworn she heard him whisper something above her head. Yet when she tipped her head up to look at him, and found him staring down at her with that strange look in his eyes again, he just shook his head and murmured something else.

"You're welcome."

And it was the first time that Nala had ever heard Kyoya return someone's thanks in a way that was not calculated, or dripping with sarcasm. No, in that moment it was the most sincerity that she had ever heard from him, and it warmed her to the core despite the situation that had caused this to happen. Nala was terrified, she would never say otherwise, but in that moment, with Kyoya's arms wrapped around her it almost seemed possible that despite the threatening phone call, and the fact that she had cried for the second time in front of him, that things would work out. Because when Kyoya had his hand in the matter, it always did.

**Authors note**

Guys! We're getting there! Tokiya really is a jerk, and it looks like he's finally making his move. Guess we'll just have to see where this leads to hm? What did you guys think of the chapter? Also, small public service announcement here, but my laptop broke so that's why this wasn't uploaded sooner, so until that gets fixed, my updates may be a little slower since I have to write them on my family's main computer, but that;s ok because they'll still be coming. I've actually been doing some work prepping the first few chapters of this stories sequel so when it's time you guys won't have to deal with super slow updates.

Anyway, let me know what you all think, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Till next time guys!

Shout out to….

ShelBell25 + sammiesweetheart0517 + quidditchers + YourFriendBob +  
OlliePop1 + Autumn CanterNot + Let'sDotheTimeLordpAgain (Thanks for the fabs/follows it means a lot to me, and I hope you have enjoyed the story so far!)

repy (Yay thank you! And you did? Oh my…)

Abby (Guest) (Thank you thank you thank you! And awesome! I'm excited to write it)

killjarkidranger (Ugh needles are awful! and it's fine don't stress it man :) )

ktmyldy28 (Thank you so much! I dunno if you read my replies but thank you so much for your heartfelt reviews, It always makes my day a little better when I get your reviews. Also, since this story is written for you guys, as well as my own personal pleasure, it just wouldn't feel right to end it without giving you guys a heads up before hand. I'm glad you like Maddy too hehe trust me she has quite a few adventures that are gonna be happening to her courtesy of Nala.)

Let'sDotheTimeLordpAgain (thank you so much! I know it's a bit of an odd versions of the hosts but it's what drew me into writing the story in the first place because I hadn't seen it done before. Also, thank you for the the critique, I hadn't realized I had been doing that so I'll definitely keep an eye open for that now)


	45. Chapter 44

Kyoya had called a host club meeting.

After he had casually pulled out an extra key to Haruhi's apartment, much to both girl's shock, he had let them in without explanation as to how he had the key, and in all honesty the girls were too nervous about it to ask. Once he let them in, he made a quick phone call and then after hanging up sat the girls down on the couch and went into the kitchen to make tea.

He came out several minutes later with steaming cups and a blank expression.

"The rest are on their way."

It was so strange being served by Kyoya, but his carefully blank expression told Nala far more than she wanted to know. He was worried they had gotten in touch with her, and he was trying to keep control of even the smallest of situations, thus the tea.

"What are we going to do senpai?"

Haruhi's voice was calm, and her eyes were steady as she watched Kyoya sitting calmly on the chair across from them. He shrugged casually and sipped his tea, his glasses flashing and covering his eyes as he spoke.

"We move you both to a secure location. There isn't much I can do for your cousin right now Nala, so we'll focus on keeping you both safe until these bastards are caught."

Nala's eyebrows shot straight up when Kyoya cursed. She'd never heard him swear before, and the quiet venom in his voice as he spoke was chilling. Shooting a glance at Haruhi who merely shrugged at Kyoya's word choice, she turned back to him.

"Er, where exactly would a safe location be?"

Even as she asked the question, the front door burst open with a bang and Tamaki barged through shouting.  
"My house most definitely so I can keep both of my darling daughters safe!"

"You're going to bother the neighbors Tamaki sit down before you get me kicked out of my apartment."'

"So cruel."

Tamaki let out a huff at Haruhi's calmly criticizing words, but plopped down next to her.

"The boss has a point,"

"We have to move you guys somewhere,"

"So why not to his house since he's so powerful?"

The twins slinked through the door after Tamaki, their gold eyes flicking back and forth between the people already in the room. They were acting surprisingly docile Nala realized as they calmly took seats on the floor and then proceeded to remain silent after their dual commentary. They reminded her in that moment of cats just waiting to pounce due to their stillness. It was disconcerting.

A few moments after they came into the room, and before anyone could reply to their comment, the door swung open again and Honey and Mori walked into the apartment.

As soon as he took off his shoes, Honey bounced over to the two girls with worried eyes,

"Are you ok? What happened?"

Nala looked down at the ground as her anger, worry, and fear began to rise again at the question. Haruhi came to her rescue.

"Guys sit down so we can explain and stop crowding Nala while she's stressed out. It'll just make it worse."

Honey looked at Haruhi quietly for a moment before looking back to Nala.

"Sorry Nal-chan!"

He then proceeded to clamber into Mori's lap since the taller boy had taken a seat on the ground by the twins.

"Er, Kyoya, would you mind telling them? I might just decide to march out of here and find Tokiya now if I try to tell the story."

With a nod, and a small barely noticeable grimace, Kyoya explained what had happened starting with how he had had a vision of the call, and then explaining what Tokiya had said.

When he finished the hosts were quiet.

"Two weeks eh?" The twins statement was calm, but their eyes burned with anger. They shared one of their silent glances in which they had an entire mental conversation that no one else could hear. "That's not much time to find the guy."

Mori's brow was furrowed in concentration as he gave a grunt of agreement.

"I think it would be best for Nal-chan and Haru-chan to stay with Takashi and I neh Kyo-kun?"

Kyoya nodded in agreement.

"I agree with Honey, since they're priests it would be safest due to the wards at their house."

"But what about Maddy!?" Nala looked up frantically from where she had been staring at her lap. "What if they like send people to America, or Ireland, and do something to her!"

"Nala, be rational about this. We both know her clan would never let that happen to her, and do you honestly think someone as low on the totem pole as Tokiya would have the power to go that far?"

_Well….when you put it that way…._

"But still, Maddy comes in about two to three weeks and what do we do then? We'll have to tell her."

"Then just tell her not to come if it isn't safe."

The twins blinked up at Nala as if it made the most sense in the world to just casually ask her to drop the thing she had been hoping and planning for for months. Nala bristled at their words. She didn't know why they were acting so cold today, maybe they were just in one of those moods, but it was not ok with her.

"I can't even if I wanted to because she accepted some job offer in the country that enables her to come here not as just an excuse so even if I wanted to tell her to stay I can't because she already signed the contract."

"What job did she get here?" Kyoya was writing in his little black book as he asked it. "I can get in touch with the corporation."

Nala blinked at him.

_He would seriously go that far? That's a little ridiculous, but then again if it's to keep her safe...but wait a second..._

"Um, Maddy never mentioned it to me. She only said she accepted the job as her cover story to get here."

The small black book was shut with a snap, and Kyoya tucked it in his pocket. The dark cloud of annoyance that he normally only had in the morning at school, and when Tamaki was really being an idiot was beginning to gather around him.

"Alright then. We'll come back to that. For now, you two," He glanced at the girls, "Should go pack your bags. We can't trust Tokiya not to make a move sooner rather than later on you two."

"Shouldn't we let Detective Maria know about this?"

The twins query was a quiet one, but it brought a sudden stillness to the room.

"They have a good point Ootori. Wouldn't it make sense to tell her so she can get a cop to watch the house for us or something?"

Nala's green eyes were bright with worry as she looked at Kyoya to answer her question. He however shook his head no.

"It wouldn't be wise to tell her because she'd have to alert the precinct about it and if there's a sudden flurry of movement at the precinct he'll hear about it which is what we don't want."

"Oh."

"But Kyo-kun Mori and I can't stay with them all day, even we have to be out of the house for training and meetings so what if they try to come then?"

Kyoya sighed.

"I'll send some of my family's private police force to watch the house when that happens. I trust them more than regular police for the job."

The twins snickered.

"Look at the shadow lord getting all sympathetic Kaoru."

"Mm Hikaru, it's almost like he,"

"Cares."

The Ootori son turned a cold look on them, glasses flashing in annoyance.

_It really is terrifying how he does that even when there's not a light in the direction he's turning for it to make them flash._

"Kaoru, and Hikaru," Kyoya's voice snapped Nala out of her thoughts. "I know it's getting closer to a full moon for you two so you're far more on edge than normal so I suggest you two go find an outlet to...burn off some energy before one of you does something stupid that we'll all end up regretting hm?"

Hikaru curled his lip at Kyoya, but before he could say something Kaoru grabbed his arm and pulled him up. They shared another one of those glances, before Hikaru nodded and they turned to leave.

"See you on Monday guys, keep us updated if anything else happens."

So saying, they left, pulling the door shut behind them. About five seconds after that Nala exploded. Leaping off the couch, she all but growled in anger as she began to pace the room.

"What. Is. There. Problem! They really can be such jerks sometimes! Honestly, with how they just acted you'd think they didn't even care! Stupid, idiotic, jerks! See if I'm sympathetic next time something happens to the-"

"Nala." She paused in her tirade because Kyoya had reached out and grabbed her hand. Well, not quite her hand he had his fingers circled around her wrist in an attempt to get her attention. "Stop, they aren't quite themselves right now don't blame them."

Those words snapped her out of her angry thoughts, and she suddenly found herself all ears. Not even the warmth of Kyoya's hand on her arm was deterring her.

"Why? They're like PMSing girls and trust me Ootori I know _aaalllll _about that. What's their deal?"

"Nal-chan, the twins are always like this around the full moon. You know they normally miss school around this time right? They were only there today since it's a friday and the full moon is on Sunday night."

Tamaki nodded sagely and continued where Honey left off.

"The moon calls to their animals. It's the one legend that is true about shapeshifters."

_Oh...I guess that makes sense but…._

"Why?" Nala's voice was less angry this time, but still full of turbulent emotion. "I have noticed they missed school but they always said it was for family matters, so why does the moon make them act out?"

Honey spoke back up, he seemed to be the one with the best knowledge of the supernatural world.

_But then again that probably comes from his being a priest._

"When Amatsu Mikaboshi the god of evil cursed them, he didn't do it directly. He used a witch who was his lover at the time to enact his curse on them. Witches are the subjects of the goddess Benten, the only goddess of good luck, and her subjects were endowed with some of her godly blood to help bless the humans on earth. Her blood allowed them to perform powerful, powerful magic. However, the witch who was Amatsu Mikaboshi's lover while one of these, had become corrupted by power, and gone to serve him."

Nala found herself getting drawn into the story as Honey spoke, could almost imagine it happening.

"She gave up her oath to Benten that she would do only good when she did that. Now, while Amatsu Mikaboshi had indeed created shapeshifters, he did not have the power to curse them directly because they had scattered from him as soon as they could escape his hold and would not come to him when he called. So, he sent out his witch to do the task for him. Animals trust witches, no matter what animal it is because witches, mostly at least, are the embodiment of light and goodness so Amatsu Mikaboshi knew that his lover would be able, with the witches that had defected with her, curse the shapeshifters."

Honey looked down at the ground sadly.

"And that is exactly what the witch and her evil kindred did. They beguiled the shapeshifters to come to them, and on a night of the full moon forced them to shift into their animal forms in order to tear away part of their souls while they were mid shift because they are vulnerable in that moment. Now, every full moon since then the shifters are forced into their animal forms for the night. They have no recollection of what happened when they wake the next morning. For that reason, the twins go and lock themselves in a special room in their house every full moon so they don't hurt anyone, and for that reason as well, they like many other shifters harbor a deep and bitter hatred towards witches."

Nala found in surprise that she was crying of all things. Not gasping sobs or anything like that, no these were heartfelt tears that trickled down her face for her friends.

"That's awful. No wonder they're out of sorts…" She looked down at her feet.. "Oh man and here I was complaining about them…I'm an awful friend gah!"

"Don't say that Nal-chan!" Honey was instantly there to hug her around her waist and stare up at her with his big, adorable brown eyes. "You didn't know and you had a rough evening so that didn't help."

"I guess."

Nala still looked uncomfortable, but a gentle tug on her wrist had her flinching with surprise, and her eyes raced over to Kyoya who was still holding her wrist.

_Oh my_

Honey must've felt it because his eyes went wide for a moment before he glanced at Kyoya's hand on her wrist and a small sly grin slid over his face. Letting go of her, he danced over to Haruhi and tugged her hand.

"C'mon Haru-chan! Let's go pack your stuff!"

"Oy! None of you shady guys should be allowed in my darling Haruhi's pure, untainted bedroom!"

"Senpai you were all in there a few months ago when that monster attacked don't you remember?"

"That was different!"

"Not really!"

Somehow, within moments the four other hosts were gone from the room and were in Haruhi and Nala's bedroom down the hall. And Kyoya was still holding her wrist. Even though her heart was beating a mile a minute, Nala knew she should remind him to let go of her wrist.

Should being the operative word there.

"Nala," Kyoya gently tugged her closer until she was at the edge of his chair, looking down into his dark, impassive eyes. "Be careful. We can't stay to watch you guys constantly even though we are almost always with you."

She smiled down at him with a kind of quiet acceptance.

"I know Kyoya, I do try, I don't go asking for trouble it has a tendency to find me first." She looked down at him to find a look of surprise on his face. "What? What is it?"

Shaking his head, Kyoya smirked slightly.

"Nothing, it's just that that's the second time I've ever heard you use my name rather than call me Ootori." His smirk turned downright evil, and he let go of her wrist, standing as he did so and turning to step towards the front door. "You should start packing, I'm going to call my driver back around." Another step towards the door. "Oh, and Miss Fuyumi?"

She turned to face him, a warm blush on her face.

"Yeah?"

His hand was on the door handle as he casually spoke over his shoulder.

"You should use my name more often, it sounds good coming from you."

So saying he walked out of the apartment and Nala's jaw dropped.

"What the hell?"

The words she whispered to herself seemed to float around the room.

_There's no way in heck he was just flirting with me. Was he?!_

Full of too many questions to answer, Nala glanced back downa t her wrist and could've sworn she felt his hand still wrapped around it as if the heat from his hand had lingered. Feeling ridiculous, Nala shook her head and headed towards her bedroom to pack her bags. She had more pressing matters to worry about that Kyoya possibly flirting with her. Even if that's what she wanted to focus on, the safety of her family and friends came first.

**Author's Note**

THINGS ARE PICKING UP! WOOT WOOT! We'll just have to see where this goes, but it looks like the hosts have some sort of plan! As always, your reviews are appreciated, and I want to ask this, but how do you feel about Kyola so far? Is he in character or is he just too sappy? It's a really hard line to draw as an author since his character is so…..secretive and sneaky most of the time. Let me know what you guys think! Until next time!

Shout out to…

Mary kitten heart + raven-jinx-and-jericho-rule (Thanks for the follows/favs guys! It's always nice to welcome more people to this story!)

rely (Get sleep! Sleep is wonderful! And thank you, I must say I really like this story too :D)

ocean full of lies (Yep they hugged, it's only taken….43 chapters to get there…Also yay you for Maddy/twins, not dropping hints but yay)

Autumn CanterNot (Thanks man! I try :) )

ktmyldy28 (Right? Although to any guys reading my story I'm sure they were a little more confused over that girls day out scene haha)

Abby (Here you go! I hope you enjoyed!)


	46. Chapter 45

Thousands of miles away, Maddy was helping save someone's life.

At this point, if she could have her way she would have let the furious dog attack her father with gladness, but since she had to play the dutiful daughter to the rest of her family members who were watching the scene she was making an attempt to coax the dog who had her dad corned in a tree to leave.

"'Ey," She was crouched dangerously close to the animal, kneeling on the ground. "Listen ta meh ye doona' wanna do this." To be fair to her dad, the only reason the dog had attacked was because it saw him almost hit her and had sprung into action. It had only been doing what it did to protect her, but even though Maddy knew that it wasn't like her family did. And it definitely wasn't like she was going to explain it to them. "As much as I would love ta see ye bite 'is cheatin' bollocks off, ye'll get hurt if ye do so go! I'll find ye later pup okay?"

Her Irish accent affected her voice when she spoke English far more than it did when she spoke Japanese, and she knew it irked her father. He himself had cultivated the perfect American accent over the years due to his utter hatred for anything to do with his bloodlines and family. A reason Maddy really didn't understand, but she knew he could hear her, and he would be upset for letting it get the best of her.

_Screw 'im. I'm here helping save his stupid arse so the least he can do is suck it up and leave me be._

The dog stopped growling, and cocked it's pretty head at her as if asking her why she was defending her father.

"Trust meh pup I doona know either, but go before someone comes with a net for yeh!"

Her muttered words were forceful, for she knew someone would do exactly such a thing. Luckily this time the dog listened, and after trotting over to nuzzle her hand, it loped away around the back of the garage to the kennels.

"Merciful king o' fairies how did yeh do tha' lassie?"

Blinking, she looked up into the face of one of her many uncles.

"Oh tha'...er, that was nothing." She chuckled awkwardly. "The poor animal seemed to think my father was an intruder here is all."

Her uncle sent her father a curt look as he was busy clambering out of the tree, and couldn't hear them over the rustling of the leaves.

"Serves 'im right. 'E's more stranger than family is fer sure. Now lassie," Her uncle turned his gaze back on her, his eyes softening. "Doona le' 'im bully yeh into droppin yer lovely accent. Tis yer birthright after all. Even if tis one he forsook."

Maddy's eyes burned with tears as her uncle gave her one more kindly smile before turning to leave. His words had touched her heart, and they had been spoken in the very accent she had always heard her father speaking in when she was a little girl, one that he had often used to comfort her when she was upset. Granted, it was much thicker than hers was and her father's had been, but it sounded so much like her father's old voice that it hurt to hear her uncle tell her to not be ashamed of it.

Said father, had finally clambered out of the tree and was staring at her. His eyes were shrewd and calculating as he seemed to be evaluating her before he smiled, and without a word began to walk towards the house leaving Maddy looking lost and alone on the driveway in front of the garage.

Maddy couldn't help the awful gut wrenching twist of emotions at his smile. He hadn't smiled at her in forever, but that smile was a cruel one. One that boded horrible things to come, and not for the first time, Maddy had a horrible feeling that something horrible was going to happen.

*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*

Tokiya was panicking. He was running out of time and he knew it. The Sorcerer would come for him he knew it, so he had to, had to, had to find that girl first. If he had to choose between his head and hers...well, he knew what he was going to be deciding.

Picking up the phone on his desk, and winking at two of the younger, newer, female officers as they strolled past, he dialed.

"Officer...I do hope, for your sake that this is good news. Hm?"

Shuddering, at the way the slimy voice seemed to stroke over his skin, even through the phone, Tokiya responded.

"She'll be mine within two weeks sir."

There was an awful scraping noise over the other end of the line, before a sickeningly wet plopping noise made the officer's heart skip a beat. He knew what that sound was. It was the sound of the creature he had called sliding it's clawed fingers over the metal of its dissection table. The plopping noise would've been whatever newly dissected body parts on the table falling to the floor as the monster swept them off the table.

It was as much a threat to Tokiya as it was to Nala.

"Tell me officer, have you perhaps heard what the word on the street is?" Swallowing hard, Tokiya stuttered out a no, so the monster continued speaking. "They say that the girl has powerful friends and that they are going to protect her no matter what happens."

The officer gave a forced chuckle.

"Well not like that will help them. The clock is ticking and soon I'll have her in my possession and not even a few foolish school boys will be able to stop me."

"Silence you _fool_." The creature's voice was full of quiet fury. "You cannot underestimate those 'school boys'. If you can say that then you do not truly understand how powerful they are. Tell me officer, did you know that their leader is a vampire? That his right hand man is a seer who as the rumors have it, is smitten with our prey and has his powers bent to help her? That the sniveling sons of that clothing designer are some of the most powerful magical creatures within a hundred mile stretch? That the child man among them, and his companion are priests that could kill you so much as look at you? No? Then do not pretend to know what you cannot even fathom."

The fury in the Sorcerer's voice grew and snapped like a whip, and Tokiya found himself growing even more afraid for his own life.

"Y-yes my lord."

There was a moment of silence, before the monster on the other end spoke up.

"Remember that officer, and pray for your own sake that the girl is yours within two weeks or it will be your blood being given to appease my master."

There was a click, and then the obnoxious beeping that accompanied the other line being hung up. Tokiya was left sitting there half in fear, and half in anger. Swearing furiously, he grabbed his jacket and stalked out of the precinct.

"I swear by my mother's grave I will catch that bitch Nala and personally help feed her to the Sorcerer."

With those words, Tokiya cast a glance in the direction of Ouran High school for the rich and privileged, and stalked down the street towards it. It was time to start laying the groundwork for the trap he was going to set. And that trap would start with finding out when Miss Madden Aisling would be landing in Ouran. Pulling out his cellphone, he called several numbers, and if anyone he walked by heard him, they would have heard nothing but a pleasant conversation between a man who was looking to see how much damage a package could sustain before it was undesirable to the receiver.

"_Oh yes, _Tokiya thought gleefully _Nala won't be able to escape me this time._

*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*

Honey glanced up at Mori, it had been two days since Nala and Haruhi had moved in with them. So far, it had been uneventful, but as a priest and guardian Honey could sense the movement that the shadows were making at the edge of his protection barriers around the house.

"Do you feel it too Takashi?"

The taller man stared out at the grounds around the house. Of course he could sense it, he could feel the shadows pressing and testing, nudging and waiting. It made him wonder how one human man was able to control the evil in the shadows.

"Mn."

Honey, knowing Mori as well as he did, knew what he was thinking.

"I know Takashi, me too. There's something else at work here after Nal-chan. Something deadly."

His big brown eyes narrowed in seriousness for a moment and he got caught up in thought. A laugh drifted from an open window upstairs and he heard the girls giggling over something Nala's cousin Maddy had told them over FaceTime. Honey didn't realize his face was caught in a frown of concentration until Mori ruffled his hair gently. Looking up at his cousin, Honey understood the quiet look in Mori's eyes and beamed up at him.

"You're right Takashi! We just have to be prepared for whatever else Tokiya brings with him! Now, I think there's some chocolate cake left, so let's go eat it!"

Grabbing Mori's hand, Honey turned and ran into the house in search of cake, choosing to ignore how he felt the evil power at the edges of his barriers poking at them again.

*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*

Several miles away, Tamaki was pestering Kyoya about more security for the girls.

"We can't let Tokiy have them Kyoya! You know that!"

Exasperated because Tamaki had been at it for hours, Kyoya spun on his friend.

"Of course I do! I won't let him have her, but I can't do _anything _until he shows himself! I have had no visions to show me what to do! So we have. To. Wait."

Tamaki regarded his friend with a quiet knowledge in his eyes.

"Maybe you aren't having any visions because this time you need to think with your emotions, not with logic."

Kyoya growled at him in annoyance. It was too early in the day to be dealing with Tamaki and his cryptic moments of seriousness.

"Logic always triumphs Tamaki, just ask my father."

His blond haired friend shook his head at him, but dropped it.

"How are the club profits doing this month mommy? Because I had a splendid idea."

"Oh?"

"Yes! Think we can afford alligators?"

Kyoya appreciated the blond boy's attempt to distract him, and decided to play along because he knew they both needed it.

"Tamaki, not only did Honey order extra cake for the desert testing day, but alligators are a threat to customers and would scare more away than attract them."

Tamaki pouted.

"But I wanted to hire dancing alligators!"

With a shake of his head, Kyoya picked up his phone to make a call and stepped out of the room.

_Time to check again if he's made a move any closer._

His other hand was clenched in a fist at his side when the person on the other end gave their report.

Tokiya hadn't made a move yet, rather he had been surprisingly quiet as if nothing was wrong. Kyoya hung up without a word, and stared at the phone in his hand. Suddenly, in a fit of anger that people rarely saw from him, Kyoya threw his phone as hard as he could against the far wall. It hit it and cracked and shattered leaving the boy standing with clenched fists and shoulders heaving with the force of his restrained anger.

He had to stop Tokiya, he wouldn't let him hurt Nala or so help him Kyoya would kill the man himself.

*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*

Out in the open forest miles outside of Ouran, a place that the old ones rumored to be haunted, two tigers crept through the woods. They were stalking something, they had heard it rustling in the bushes farther ahead of them, and they had begun to creep after it. Not really hunting, but not playing either, the big cats slunk alone staying low to the ground. The tiger that was Hikaru was on the left, his fur dappled by sunlight that was streaming through the leaves and branches of the big trees. On his right, Kaoru slid through the underbrush sticking to the shadows as they stalked their prey.

They had been in tiger form all the night before, and all of Sunday because of the full moon. Somewhere, in their subconsciouses, the two boys were asleep, and their tigers were the ones who were in control. They kept their human halves from knowing about the bloodshed and the hunting that they Relishing their freedom, the cats slid through the woods until they caught sight of their prey. A large deer was grazing, Hikaru's tiger reached out a large paw and gently smacked his twin, who responded by glancing at him and curling its lips back in a feral smile.

Defenseless and unaware of the danger coming towards it. Suddenly, with a snarl, the tigers attacked. With a well practiced, and combined attack, they felled the deer in seconds before it even had a chance to cry out.

As they began to tear into it, they felt the push at their minds, the humans wanted out, but with snarls the tigers shoved them back. They wouldn't let their humans be ashamed of themselves for their tigers actions. The last time the tigers had shown them what they had done someone had died, and that had not ended well. No, it was better to keep this hidden from them. Even though they could all feel their sanity slipping as the tigers became more prevalent, the human halves couldn't do anything about it.

They were running out of time, running out of time before they lost their human halves and were nothing more than mindless, feral animals. Even the tigers knew it, and they were afraid. They had to find their other half, if they didn't more people like Haruka were going to get hurt.

*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*

The man at his desk laughed. His monster for hire had just called him to update him on the newest developments and he couldn't help it. The pieces were falling into place perfectly. He picked up a picture on his desk. Two girls smiled up at him, the other woman's face was blocked by the glare from the sun. Without looking at the smaller girl next to the woman in the photo, the man's eyes focused on the other girl. Big green eyes squinting up at the camera, and brown hair that tumbled loose around her shoulders had him chuckling evilly.

Yes, Nala was going to pay for the setback that had taken him years to fix. It was only a matter of time before she was groveling at his feet and begging for forgiveness.

The players were all set in place, and little did they know that the noose was about to grow much, much tighter, oh yes, within two weeks his dream of crushing her pathetic family would finally become a reality.

**Authors Note**

Ok! I know this is a bit scattered and different from my regular chapters, but I needed to build tension and you guys needed to be introduced to the man behind the scenes, the figure orchestrating it all MWAHAAHAHAH!...Ahem, anyway what did you guys think? Tension is building, and secrets are going to come tumbling down. Don't worry, the next chapter will be regularly formatted and not quite as all over the place. What are your thoughts on the chapter? Did you like having the different POV"s from the hosts?

Shout out to…

missrevenge98 + kadi21 (Thanks for the follows/favs guys!)

repy (HEHE yup adorableness!)

raven-jinx-and-jericho-rule (Haha it's about time for him to right?"

ktmyldy28 (As always your review was incredibly appreciated so thank you! And trust me, they'll be around quite soon, they're goin through a bit of a...rough patch right now, but don't worry all will be explained soon. As for the romance yes...Kyoya is very very hard to write but it was super encouraging to hear that you think I'm doing well with it so again thank you!)

Let'sDotheTimeLordpAgain (Do you? Do you really? ;) if you do then yay because same here but you're gonna have to wait and see where this goes hehe)

Abby (GOOD!)


	47. Chapter 46

The hosts were incredibly wary for the next three days, Honey, Mori, Haruhi, and Nala were waking at any little noise in the house at night, and come Wednesday were bone deep tired having gotten no more than 5 hours of sleep within the past few nights. They were all but dragging themselves into the school. Well, not Mori so much as the others because he would never let anyone see him in such a weakened state, but Honey whose normal disposition was bright and sunny and sweet, was starting to get surly and quiet.

Even the guests of the club were noticing his subdued attitude, and Nala was remembering the time at the waterpark when she had woken him and he had been ready to attack her. It was like he was not himself when he was tired, and another mindset came over him. As for Nala and Haruhi, well, skillfully applied makeup to cover up the dark circles that were growing darker each day had saved them so far, but that day in class Nala had fallen asleep no less than three times, and Ayanokoji had taken wicked glee in chucking spit balls at her to "wake her up".

So, now at the end of the school day, As Honey, Nala, and Haruhi all but staggered through the doors to the host club.

"MOMMY THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE HAS COME! WE MUST RUN!"

"Boss! We got your bat!"

General chaos ensued as the bloodshot eyes of Honey, Mori, Nala, And Haruhi watched Tamaki run around in a panic while the twins, in some strange reversed scenario, were chasing him with his bat and trying to get him to take it.

"Tamaki sit down and be rational, you're a vampire prince you should be able to recognize your friends without going into a panic."

Tamaki slid to a halt at Kyoya's words, and the twins barely managed to avoid crashing into him when he spun to face the people slowly making their way across the room.

"H-Haruhi!?"

He gaped at her in shock, and all she did was making a grunting noise in response before flopping down onto the closest couch and falling asleep within seconds.

Nala, Honey and Mori weren't far behind her either. Each finding their own respective spot and dropping down into it.

"What happened to you guys?"

The twins synced voices didn't even startle Nala when they appeared leaning over her and looking down at her in surprise. She shut her eyes and rolled onto her side, cradling a pillow under her head. They poked her and she moaned in annoyance.

"Cut it out. I've had barely ten hours of sleep if even in the past three days and I'm so fricking tired."

Another voice cut in before the twins could say anything else, or tease her about her sleep deprived state.

"Nala, would you come with me? I have things I need to discuss with you."

Groaning dramatically, Nala forced herself to sit up and opened her eyes to look at Kyoya.

"Ugh, sure." Standing, she followed him when he beckoned her into a room she hadn't been in since her first day running into the club; his office. He stopped when he got to the picture window, and Nala stopped next to him, glancing up at him curiously. "What is it?"

Stepping away from her, he went to the desk and opened a drawer, lifting out a small box before closing the drawer and coming back over to her.

Nala, despite her exhaustion, felt her heart begin to thud. That was definitely a jewelry box, and it was too small to be a bracelet or a necklaces..

"Er. Ootori if you're about to propose to me or something, by all means feel free to tell me it's April first?"

He shook his head and handed her the box.

"No Nala, it is not April fools, just open it."

She took it, ran her fingers over the silky smooth velvet exterior, and then opened it.

Inside it lay a ring. A delicate looking thing of gold in a beautiful interlocking design, however, it was the stone at the top that the design, which Nala's sleep deprived brain finally realized was the Ootori family symbol, was engraved in gold in the large amber like stone.

"What is this?"

Kyoya made a sound of annoyance and taking the ring from her slid it over her ring finger on her right hand.

"It's a cat's eye stone. Cat's eye acts to stimulate intuition and to enhance awareness. It is a grounding stone that provides a very effective protective energy. With everything that's been going on, I decided you could use any extra protection you could get. Traditionally, Cat's Eye is believed to protect the wearer from evil spirits, which I know is something you definitely need right now. I had Honey add some magical protection spells on it, so as long as you wear this ring nothing of the magic variety should be able to attack you."

Nala blinked at him in surprise.

"Er, thank you that's really nice! Sorry, I'm too sleep deprived to really be able to concentrate right now…" She looked back down at the ring, a small smile growing over her face as she looked at the beautiful, definitely expensive, and most definitely hand crafted ring. "This is so gorgeous Ootori, but I have a question."

"Yes?"

"Why is your family's symbol stamped into the stone? Won't my classmates notice that? What if rumors spread?"

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"And? It doesn't matter as long as you're safe?" Nala's heart beat even harder at that, and she felt a blush working its way up her face, but it was killed a little at his next words. "That way, the more rumors spread the more Tokiya will hear about you and if you were to just go missing it would be more suspicious."

"Oh...yeah that makes sense!"

She smiled at him, but it turned into a jaw cracking yawn. Kyoya stepped away from her, and cleared his throat as he headed for the door.

"You can lie down on the couch and take a nap, your first customer isn't for an hour so you have time. I'll send one of the twins in to wake you up when it's time."

Even as she spoke, she flopped onto the couch and snuggled into the cushions. With another yawn, she shut her eyes.

"Thanks Kyoya."

He paused for a moment, before nodding, even though she couldn't see it and stepping out of the room.

"You're welcome Nala."

*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*

Nala slept well, the couch was soft and smelled like Kyoya, and as she drifted off she wondered if he ever did this; stayed a night to study and work so he wouldn't lose the time having to go home.

_Probably_. _That would be just like him to stay here rather than go home because he wants to get work done._

Her cheeks grew hot at the thought, and shaking her head resolutely as if she could shake the thoughts of him sleeping in the same spot she had just been from her head, she sat up, and swung her legs off the couch to stand up. As she stretched her arms over her head, she let out another jaw cracking yawn, before dropping her arms and shoving her hair out of her face.

"Yosh! Let's go!"

Feeling ten times better after the short nap, she left the room with a grin on her face.

"Ah! Nal-chan!" Nala looked up with a grin as HOney came bounding over. "You took a nap too neh?"

She grinned at the boy and nodded.

"Yep! I feel a lot better, but you took one too?" At his nod she let out a relieved laugh. "Ok good, you needed it more than I did."

He merely beamed up at her, before bouncing back over to greet the guests who were just sitting down at his table.

"Ah, Nala you're awake early perfect. Your customers have just arrived so I'll send you over now,"  
She cocked an eye as Kyoya appeared at her side from seemingly nowhere.

"Always business

"Not always"

With that cryptic remark her smirked at her, before turning and heading back to his own table to work on budgeting. Shaking her head at his back, Nala turned and made a beeline for her table, where her regular guests were now sitting. With a grin, she stepped over to them, and plopped into her own seat.

"Hey guys! How's it going?"

The three girls smiled up at her and began chattering away about their days and whatnot before Kana asked Nala how her's had been.

"Uneventful for the most part. Aside from not sleeping well nothing has happened."

Of course, the girls wouldn't get the double meaning behind her words of nothing happening, but that was ok with Nala, she didn't need her problems advertised to the school, and with how much Ayanokoji hated her, it would probably just paint a bigger target on her back. Besides, her problems were her own, and she wouldn't involve anyone she didn't have to. She was so caught up in her thoughts, that she barely heard Kana's startled gasp.

"Nala what is that!?"

Blinking hastily and refocusing her eyes on the brunnette girl, she gave her a look of confusion.

"What's what?" By now the other girls were looking at Kana in curious surprise as well, but Kana didn't pay them any attention, instead pointing with a gleeful grin at Nala's hand. Looking down in confusion, Nala found herself staring at the ring that Kyoya had given her. It winked in the light from the ceiling, the rich golden brown stone reflecting like a cat's own eye would do. "Oh the ring?" Nala smiled at the girls. "It's a gift from Ootori for working so much in the club!"

Even as she spoke though, the two other regulars let out gasps, one of them swooning into her companion's arms while the girl who caught her looked devastated and began muttering about losing 'the bet'. Kana of course, being the sweet sensible girl she was, corrected Nala.

"Nala, that's not a gift for hard work. In our society, a ring like that is on par with a promise ring. By wearing that, you're showing who has claimed ou. It's like a warning sign to others who would pursue you that you're already spoken for."

Nala's face went white as all the blood drained from it, and the world spun dizzyingly.

"A-a promise ring…? I don't understand…He didn't mention that to me at all when he gave it to me..."

Kana shook her head sympathetically.

"Of course he wouldn't as handsome as he is, he does tend to overlook those details." At Nala's look of confusion, Kana explained briefly how she knew that. "I'm good friends with his sister, and I know her pretty well. But, him giving that to you without explaining was a dirty move, you should go talk to him because that ring is a serious symbol in the world of the elite. You can't just go into it wearing that ring blindly otherwise the people at this school will eat you alive. However," Now Kana gave a blinding smile. "You did just win me, as well as several others, a million yen for the bet we had going that we just one."

All of that went right over Nala's head. All she could focus on was the dull pounding in her ears, and the sudden heavy weight that the ring on her finger had become. A promise ring and she hadn't know, nor had he thought to tell her? Her stomach swam again.

_How could he do that to me? Is he just playing with me because he figured out I really like him? Is this a joke? Why? Why would he do this without telling me? He must've known I would find out from the other girls here… so why?_

Now Nala's head was swimming, fuzzy with thoughts and confusion, heart torn between a joyful lightness and a heavy sensation akin to fear.

"I, uh, I…"

She trailed off, but Kana and the other girls grinned at her wickedly.

"Go talk to him!"

"Yeah Nala-chan!"

Kana winked.

"We can entertain ourselves, and this is serious so go get 'im."

Smiling broadly to cover the tumult of emotions rolling around in her chest, Nala stood and bowed before hurrying over to Kyoya's empty table, where he sat still doing budgeting.

Grabbing him by the arm, her eyes a shade darker green because of her anxiety over the ring, and tugged him to his feet.

"We need to talk come back with me to the office."

Kyoya raised an eyebrow, glasses flashing.

"What's happening? Are you ok?"

Nala's eyes flashed darker.

"No. We need to talk about how me joking about you proposing to me isn't that far off the mark, and how you in a royal jerk move, didn;t mention it to me."

His glasses flashed again, and with a nod, he collected his little black book and laptop, and followed her back to the office.

**Author's Note**

Hi all! DUN DUN DUN PLOT TWIST! Bet you all didn't see that coming huh? This is my end of april vacation present to you all hehe I hope you guys had a wonderful vacation! But, I'm sorry for the delayed reply everyone, this month has been hectic, I was in a car accident, my 23 year old cousin died of cancer, and I broke my foot all within two weeks so I haven't been on top of things, but I really liked how this chapter came out, but my apologies for the late update. Nala ain't a happy camper with what Kyoya just pulled I can tell you that guys. Anyway, please review as always it is much appreciated and I love getting all comments they make my day :) much love to you all!

Shout out to…

Barracuda57 + .129 + RimaRiko + charlielou1241 + SunsiFire + jammylee + Hostyamada + jantara02 + Dark Jacky + Asryanne + Looney Farah + crazyreaderduh +

RastaPasta + Ivy's Siren (Thanks for the follows and favorites everyone!)

Let'sDotheTimeLordpAgain (right? Destroying everyone only gets a person so far these baddies need to realize that)

Barracuda57 ( thank you :) it is a long fanfic but I'm glad you're enjoying it so far! Thanks for all the sweet reviews you've left! As well as the constructive criticism it has been super appreciated so enjoy this new chapter!)

ktmyldy28 (yeah I agree I am stuck in a situation that kind of demands the stage be set and there's no way around it because of the plot so I'm just gonna have to work on smoothing some things over from here on out before everything is revealed.)

RimaRiko (Thank you! My update schedule can be a little haphazard but I update every 2-3 weeks)

Guest (thank you! I'm glad you like it and thank you for the review!)


	48. Chapter 47

Kyoya trailed after Nala as she led the way to his office, her short clipped steps, and stiff posture emphasizing the discomfort she was feeling. Stepping into his office after her, he quietly shut the door, and turning around found her pacing in obvious distress.

"What is it miss Fuyumi?"

Now that, that set her off. Spinning to face him, her face flushed with anger she pointed at him.

"What is it? What is it! That's all you have to say? You literally gave me a promise ring and didn't tell me! Who does that!" She began pacing again. "Honestly Ootori I know you don't have much tact but I didn't expect you to have this little tact! It's ridiculous, plain ridiculous damn it and now I'm gonna start crying because I was hoping you would ask me out because I really like you but I didn't think it would go down like this and oh shit I said that out loud I'm shutting up now."

Maka cut herself off and the anger seemed to drain from her leaving her looking just embarrassed as her face went beet red and she looked away from him.

Kyoya looked at her without expression, his dark eyes unreadable as he seemingly thought over what she said.

He hadn't thought about the repercussion when she found out what the ring meant, but then again, he let his eyes trail over the room as he thought about that. She had a horrible tendency to make him forget what the repercussions of certain choices would be, and when she laughed, which she didn't do often enough in his opinion, it made him feel light inside.

Kyoya shied away from that thought with annoyance deciding he had been spending too much time around Tamaki. Finally, he looked back at Nala who was still standing red faced in front of him

"I think we need to talk."

*V*V*V*V*V*

Kaoru's eyes followed Nala and Kyoya as they stepped into the boy's office. The twin couldn't shake the feeling that he had lost, that letting that door shut had also shut out any hope he had for getting Nala. He snarled softly at himself before turning away to leave the room.

His tiger had never been sure about Nala, and hikaru hadn't cared for her any more than as a friend and fellow host, but kaoru knew he had felt something. There was something about her, about how she acted that had made him sit-up and take notice of the pretty brunette when she had stumbled into their lives. He didn't know what it was, but his tiger no longer cared. Someone he had thought might be his prospective mate would have felt the connection too, but it was obvious that Nala didn't.

_Maybe it's time to stop giving Kyoya such a hard time about it._

Hikaru, who had been watching his twin quietly until then shook his head.

"Nah it's too much fun to tease him over this."

Kaoru grinned slyly at him before nodding and stepping out of the room with his brother. And in that moment, he relinquished all claim he had thought of putting on Nala.

_She's Kyoya's now. _

*V*V*V*V*V*V*

Meanwhile, inside the office and oblivious to what was happening in kaoru's head, Nala was watching Kyoya quietly. His first words weren't what she expected.

"It's your fault really." He pushed his glasses up on his nose with the tip of a finger. "You had to come prancing into the club and disrupt the order and peace we had after Haruhi came, and you got both myself and Kaoru tied up over you."

Nala's heart fluttered at his words, but he continued speaking.

"I didn't care very much at first. It was all to keep Haruhi happy so tamaki would be happy, but then that shifted. During the beach trip when you took on that man by himself and then confronted me about it when I told you you should watch out for your own back you showed something that no one has ever shown me. And that was complete selflessness."

Nala looked down at the floor, a blush burning her cheeks as Kyoya spoke.

"I come from a home where that would get you destroyed, we take what we want," she could all but feel him staring at the ring he had given her, "and we don't ask."

Here she interrupted him, her voice breathless, her green eyes huge and bright as she stared up at him.

"What are you telling me Kyoya?"

He froze for a moment, as if her using his first name threw him off for a second.

"I'm telling you," and here he stole a page from Tamaki's book by catching her chin with his fingers so he could keep her head tilted so she was looking up at him and couldn't look away. His dark eyes were bright, alive in a way she hadn't seen them before. "That I want you."

Nala's mouth dropped open.

"Please don't be messing with me Ootori, I don't think I could handle that right now. If this is a prank then I won't be happy." She looked down at the ring on her finger, and tugged it off, holding it out for him. "If this is a joke, then you better take this ring back right now so I can walk out of this room and out of your life. I'd rather take on Tokiya alone than have this be a pretense or a farce you're putting up for the other students, because in case you haven't been able to tell, I really like you. You and your stupid smirk, and your protective streak that's a mile wide, and your secret way of caring for people without wanting them to see it. I really like you, so if you're playing with me you better tell me right now so I can go to the nearest store and buy chocolate ice cream to drown my sorrows in."

Nala's voice grew stronger as she spoke, and a passionate blush had spread over her cheekbones and made the tips of her ears turn pink as she stared at him. Her greens eyes flashed with determination, and if one looked close enough a spark of fear lay in their depths. A fear of rejection and loss that Nala had felt one too many times for that spark not to be there in the face of his bold words of caring.

After a lifetime of loss and heartbreak from the men in her life, Nala well deserved that spark of fear, even though she knew in the back of her mind that it was irrational and she was probably overreacting because really, when did Ootori do something halfheartedly?

Fingers curling around her hand and catching the ring between both of their palms snapped Nala out of her thoughts, and she looked up to find Kyoya looking down at her.

"Miss Fuyumi, the first time I saw you, you were covered in blood, you were limping, and you're eyes were terrified and full of fear, yet you challenged me that day in a way no one ever has before by standing up to me so blatantly. So," Kyoya uncurled his hand from hers, and took the ring out of her grasp causing Nala's heart to clench painfully as she waited for his next words. "I would like to have the pleasure of properly asking you with this ring, if," He slid it over her ring finger, "You will do me the honor of being my girlfriend?"

The utter silence that filled the room for a moment, was broken by a sniffle. And with horror Kyoya found that Nala was crying.

"You," She sniffled again as a tear slid down her cheek, "You are the first man who I've ever cared about who hasn't thrown me away like trash. Who hasn't walked away, or abused me in some way, and I don't know where this will go, but you know what? Yes, I would love to do you the honor of being your girlfriend Kyoya Ootori."

He smirked at her, and his moment of romance seemed to disappear as he stepped back from her and his normal attitude of collected coolness returned.

"Good, I don't know how I would have managed to, mm, persuade you if you'd said no."

Nala's eyebrows shot up, and she wiped her tears away as a small grin of her own slid over her lips.

"I'm sure you would have managed, but I think we should go out there and tell the rest of the hosts, I think tamaki and Haruhi had a bet going on about when this would become official."

Kyoya shook his head, and muttered something about how juvenile the hosts were, before shrugging his shoulder.

"And I'm sure Tamaki will moan and complain when he finds out he's lost."

"What makes you think he lost?"

Kyoya raised an eyebrow at Nala.

"HAve you ever met them?"

Nala snickered.

"True, I bet Haruhi batted those big ol' eyes of hers at him and he probably forgot what he was betting on and made a bet for something totally irrelevant."

"Mm." Kyoya adjusted his glasses, and once more a look of seriousness settled over his face. "But now Nala, your enemies will have to get through me to get to you." His glasses glinted, and his smile turned evil. "I wish them the best of luck with that."

**Authors Note**

Guys I was gone for wayyy too long, but here's a new chapter! I should be back to my schedule now of posting every 2-3 weeks now that a bunch of crazy stuff in my life has calmed down! A special thank you to those of you who left some really sweet reviews on my last chapter when I mentioned how everything had just been going south for me, so thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Now, it's about dang time that this happened, but it was insanely hard to write this chapter, so I hope you all approve. As always, feedback is much loved and appreciated, and I'm now off to post this and begin the next chapter. Enjoy!

Shout out too…

acompletenerd + WhatisDoneLEtItbe + Cal-Kitty + Victo557 +

OtakuWhovian1224 (Thanks all for the follows and favs! You guys are the best!)

Hostyamada (Thank you so much your review was so sweet, as are you! I understand the aggravation of not being able to put ones life together but I hope everything works out for you as well! Hugs back from me :) )

repy (thank you :) I'm ok-ish it's a process, but no my foot was a separate accident from running track and not taking care of myself well enough during the beginning of the season.)

ktmyldy28 (Thank you :) time will heal it all hopefully. And yes, in all honesty I do not understand why Kyoya has such a problem with being a romantic. Things would go so much more smoothly if he would just figure it out and get over himself.)

Let'sDotheTimeLordpAgain (he really does. With what he jut did it's no wonder Nala's mad at him)

LukeSkywalkeer (Ah yes you are the unfortunate victim of some of my earlier chapters. don't worry though I'm planning on heading back and re-editing this as soon as I have some time set aside for it.)

Guest (Why thank you haha! I'm glad I was able to make you giggle. I'll count that as an accomplishment :P Flustering people tends to be what I do best

!)

OtakuWhovian1224 (hehe)


	49. Chapter 48

The rest of the hosts took it as well as Nala had expected, Tamaki twirling her around and around until she was dizzy and Mori had to rescue her from him, Honey full of cheerful joy at the news, Haruhi smirked and winked at her, and the twins laughed and teased that it was about time, even though Nala could've sworn she caught a glimmer of sadness in Kaoru's eyes, but her worry over that diminished as soon as he and Hikaru winked at her and made a joke about when to expect kids which prompted Tamaki to freak out and chase them out of the club room. Any worry she felt about that glimmer though disappeared when the twins got her between them, each with an arm over her shoulders, and in low, conspiratorial voices told her that if she ever was ready to "take that big step forward" to come to them and they would get her the supplies.

Nala's face burned fire-truck red at that, and she jerked away from both of them.

"You guys are jerks, and I can supply myself thank you very much. I don't need help from you, perverts! And besides, I don't think either Kyoya or I have thought that far ah-" She cut herself off there, and clearing her throat tried again. "The point is, I don't think any of us will need to worry about that and you two are creeps. Honestly, it's no wonder Tamaki chases you around like he does with his baseball bat! I swear that half the time you deserve it!"

Tamaki, upon hearing his name bounded over to her like a faithful puppy and grinned.

"You called sweet dove?"

Wrinkling her nose at him, Nala huffed and shook her head.

"Thanks Tamaki, but no. Just doing my thing over here."

Before he could respond however, an awful cackling filled the room, and the lights began to dim. Heart tripping in her chest, Nala leapt over the nearest couch and crouched down behind it even as the other hosts leapt around her in a semi-circle.

"You think you're good enough for my Kyoya-kun!?" The cackle continued, and a platform swirled up from the ground. On top of it stood a young girl, her eyes glowing demonically in the now dim light of the room, and her voice booming like thunder as her cackles filled the air. Nala could've sworn she looked familiar, but at the moment she was too freaked out by the fact that the lights were out to really debate where she knew her from. "I'll show you good enough! He might have turned me down when I came to marry him, but I can still keep tramps like you away from my precious, sweet, kitten loving, closet romantic lover of the night!"

Wait…

"Renge!?"

Both mine and Haruhi's combined voices were full of horrified shock.

Of course it would be her, who else would call Kyoya their closet romantic lover of the night?

"Miss Houshakuji, we've been over this before, I am not your romantic interest, and I do not prefer to have you calling me that."

"But Kyoya! We're destined to be! Nekozawa's great cat of prophecy has foreseen it for us both!"

And are those hearts glowing in her eyes? Where'd the demon eyes go? Maybe she is a demon? That would certainly explain a lot…

"Renge, I suggest you leave now, and don't enter this room again on that device." Kyoya's glasses flashed and his signature smirk slid over his face as he continued speaking.. "It would be a shame if the school's repair men were told of the strange tunnels that were under the school housing scientific objects wouldn't it?"

With a wail over how cruel her lover was, Renge disappeared in a flash of lightening and a blast of thunder. The lights un-dimmed, and gentle piano music was once more slipping from the hidden speakers around the room. For all purposes and appearances, it was as if Renge had never been there, and the hole that Nala half expected to be there in the middle of the floor, gaping open into some dark pit of hell was, well, not there at all. There was not even a scratch.

Freaky…

Before Nala could ponder it, the stiff voice of Kaoru at her side caused her to look up at him and his twin in surprise.

"We're leaving. Tell the girls we were feeling sick."

The twin's voice was underscored by a cold edge that Nala had never heard from him before. Normally, if one of them was having an attitude it was Hikaru, but apparently not today. With those words, the twins turned and stalked out of the room. Nala's questioning gaze heavy on their backs.

"They're more on edge lately." Haruhi's voice at her side caused Nala to jump, and turn her green eyes towards her best friend.

"Why?"

The other girl shook her head.

"We can't tell. There's just something in the air around them these days. Even the girls are noticing it. Their, and as much as I hate saying these words, their brotherly love act has been...too forced recently. It's as if something's eating away at them on the inside."

Or clawing its' way out.

The unspoken words hung heavy in the air between them, and with worried eyes the girls turned back to their work of preparing the music room to receive its' many guests.

*V*V*V*V*V*V*

Nala's mind was a tangle of confusion, joy, and more confusion. She could barely believe that Kyoya could actually, really feel something for her, but at the same time the idea of it filled her with warmth and happiness. If it was a game, he was playing it well.

But he seemed so convicted when I asked him the first time if it was a game. I don't think he would do that to me, I really don't...but what if…

A pleasant male voice at her side broke her out of her thoughts.

"Stop over thinking it Nal-chan." Startled, she looked down to find Honey staring up at her with a smile. "Stop doubting him. He hasn't done anything to break your trust, so there's no need to be afraid of what will happen in the future. Worry about the now, not what comes next."

Nala sighed, and her eyes wandered across the room till she was looking out one of the many windows into the cherry tree filled courtyard.

"It's hard not to worry about the future Honey-kun. I've spent so much of my time these past few months worrying about what is going to come next, when the next attack will be, who will get hurt, how to stop these creatures. I guess," She covertly glanced across the room at the tall Ootori boy who was correcting Tamaki on some absent-minded poor mannerism. "I guess I'm having trouble adjusting to the idea of something really, truly good being here for me right now."

The young man nodded, and his brown eyes followed hers across the room to rest on Kyoya.

"It's normal Nal-chan." He hopped up onto the table next to her, swinging his legs like a little child. "When I was first chosen to be a priest I was scared too. I was worried that I would fail and people would get hurt, because it is a big responsibility. Luckily I had Takashi to help me, and that's how I did it. You've gotta really let people help you Nal-chan. If you don't do that you'll never be able to stop worrying about the future. You worry about the future because you think you're all alone in this with no one to watch your back, but you aren't. You have us," He beckoned towards the other hosts, "and you have Kyo-kun too now. And we both know he'll watch your back no matter what."

Nala stared in disbelief at the small boy sitting on the table smiling up at her. In that moment she could really see how he was a priest. He held a wisdom beyond his years, and she instantly embraced his words to heart. With a small grin at Honey, Nala nodded.

"You're right. I have you guys! I feel like every time that I have these doubts you always know. How do you do it!"

She marveled at him, and he let out a happy, boyish laugh.

"You're an open book Nal-chan! Everything you're feeling shows in your eyes. I think," and here he leaned forward conspiratorially towards her, "I think it's why Kyo-kun fell for you, because being able to be with someone who can't hide anything from him is vital. He values the truth above anything else, even if he does twist it sometimes himself."

"You know what Honey-kun?" He blinked up at Nala when she spoke, his eyes full of cheerful knowledge. "Thank you. I needed to hear that, thank you for the pep talks you keep giving me. You're totally the best senpai ever!"

From somewhere behind them, Tamaki's shocked cry of outrage proved he and his magic hearing had heard that particular statement, but Nala and Honey just laughed.

From some unknown location, the gentle tinkle of a bell filled the air, and Honey instantly snapped back into his more boyish character and bounded over to where the rest of the hosts were gathering to welcome the guests in.

*V*V*V*V*V**V*

Sure enough, within minutes of the doors opening, someone had noticed the ring on Nala's hand and a general outcry had been risen. Now, in a mass amount of pandemonium, bets were being won, money trading hands, designer purses being promised to come within the next day, and all manners of strange things that the winners wanted being delivered.

_Crazy rich people._

On her part, Nala was content to field questions away from herself, deliberately stating she would appreciate privacy, but yes it was true that she and Kyoya were a couple. It took a few tries, and by the time she had them talking about something else Nala knew the girls were only doing it to appease her, but they finally managed to change topics, and the time flew by.

Finally, it was time for th last few girls to leave. However, as they were heading out, one of Nala's regulars, the little mousy girl who had unintentionally gotten Nala truly mixed up in the world of the supernatural, turned and ran back to Nala sliding a note into her hand before dashing away.

Her curiosity burning, Nala looked after the girl as she sprinted from the room, before opening the note to peruse its' contents.

_Dear Nala,_

_I realized I had forgotten to ever say thank you to you for what you did for me, and I just wanted to ask if you would like to go to dinner with me tonight so I can properly thank you? _

_If so, I'll be by your house around 6:30 stand outside the house if you're interested and I'll see you. If you do decide to go, dress nicely. You'll see why._

The note was signed with the girl's name and a cute little smiley face inside a heart that made Nala grin.

_That actually sounds like fun! And since I don't have plans tonight I don't see why it would be a problem._

And that, was how Nala found herself three hours later watching as a sleek, black limousine pulled up to the curb in front of her. The driver popped out and opened the door for her, and from the interiour the other girl waved at her with a grin and a smile.

"Hi Nala," Her voice was soft and sweet as she grinned up at the hostess. "Thank you for coming, I meant to do this for a while now but was too shy to ask in person…"

Nala grinned and waved a hand carelessly as she slid into the vehicle.

"It's ok! I'm glad we could do this, I'm sure it'll be fun. Where are we going that you asked me to dress nicely though?"

The girl all but mumbled the name if the restaurant, and Nala's eyebrows shot up for a split second. It was a renowned, seclusive, private date restaurant that normally only couples went to to eat. It required good money, a date, and a good sense of fashion to get into the place which was what surprised Nala so much. However, when she voiced her concerns about the money needed, the other girl merely waved her hand at her.

"It's all ok, it's really not too expensive, and it's a nice quiet place I thought we could talk in without being disturbed."

Nala smiled at her weakly. She was fast getting the strange feeling that something very weird was going on that she didn't know about, and silently praised her luck that she had remembered to tell Haruhi who she was going out with that night. However, she was determined to try to enjoy herself because heck when was the next time she was gonna be in a restaurant this nice?

_Kyoya might take me someday…_

She shoved aside the traitorous thought, and focused back on the girl in front of her with a grin.

"Thanks! This was very nice of you, and- Oh look! The waiter is coming!"

At the prospect of food, any thoughts over how odd the situation was disappeared, and Nala was practically salivating as she day dreamed about what to order. She ended up, at the insistence of the other girl, to get whatever she wanted, and ended up with some overpriced but absolutely delicious cut of meat.

The girls made small talk over dinner. Mere chit-chat to pass the time, but as she ate Nala still had that niggling feeling in the back of her mind that the other girl wanted something from her.

_Guess there's no time like the present to ask…_

"So you asked me here to talk about something right?"

The other girl lifted her brown eyes to mine, and a blush spread across her cheeks.

"Er, yes, I realized after you and Kyoya became official today that I needed to talk to you about something. Let's not do it here though, can we go for a walk?"

Nodding her head in confusion because she had no idea what her's and Ootori's relationship could have to do with anything this girl said Nala waited for her to pay the check as the other girl wouldn't even hear of them splitting it. Finally, they were ready to go, and they rose and left the restaurant. Walking down the street, the sun was low in the sky, and the dim light around them made a feeling of foreboding crawl up Nala's spine.

Everytime she was out and about after dark, something always seemed to go wrong. The girl at her side didn't seem to notice Nala's discomfort, and merely kept chatting away.

It took a moment for Nala to regain the thread of the conversation as she had been busy scanning the area around them.

"-It wasn't until I saw the ring on your finger that I realized I had only this one chance to ask you!"

_Wait what? What about the ring?_

"Er, ask me what?"

Nala's voice was hesitant, unsure, blatantly showing her confusion to the other girl. The girl stared up at Nala with adoring eyes, before practically lunging forward to grab Nala's hand, and vehemently began talking.

"For you! That day when you ran of to defend my honor from my boyfriend, and then that day on the beach when you saved me again! I realized that you're the one for me! There can't be anyone else! I'm in love with you Nala, and I wanted to ask if you would be my girlfriend."

Nala's mind reeled in shock. She'd been expecting...something to happen, but...not this.

_Well...crap._

**Authors Note**

Hi guys! I SURVIVED MY FIRST YEAR OF PUBLIC SCHOOL! Cue the happy dancing please *ahem* right but in celebration of that here's a chapter for you all! Updates should get back to their more regular schedule as I now have more time in which to work on this story now that school is out. What did you think of this chapter? Cliffhanger! Needed something to get over the mild case of writer's block and this presented itself so bam! Please review! And leave any suggestions for me about what to do in the next few chapters as this story is coming to a close!

Shout out to…

Chapter 48

lilmissy21 + facecake98 + swimmer1102 + Barracuda57 + HalleluiaZeyohannes + kanakoyuki + Rsur Thorai (Thanks for the follows and favs! You guys are epic!)

Crystalline Amore (hehe thank you)

animegal1357 (thank you! I've been focusing a lot on fixing little things in my writing and I think that has helped but u have to start going over all my old chapters to edit them ugh help)

Barracuda57 (thank you! I tried!)

swimmer1102 (Thank you haha! Your reviews were super sweet and also I love your username because yes swimming!)

killjarkidranger (haha I'm glad you loved it!)

Lady Artimes Blaine (Haha well it's here now!)


	50. Chapter 49

Nala couldn't help but stare. Had she really heard the other girl right? And if she was asking Nala out, had this meant that dinner had been a date!?

_Dear mother of pearl please don't tell me I somehow led her on by being nice…_

"Uh," She stared at the other girl in shock, "I, um, well…" She scratched the back of her head, not entirely sure what to say. "I'm flattered really, believe me," Nala glanced helplessly around the street as a horrible feeling of guilt overcame her.

_I don't know how to tell her no without hurting her feelings, and no one is here to help me, and i can't be like 'hold up while I call Haruhi for some advice on what to say…' UGH WHAT DO I DO!?_

Nala sighed, and putting her eyes back on the girl in front of her who was staring at her with big, hopeful eyes, she mentally straightened her spine, and began to speak.

"Let me talk for a second okay, and explain myself please before you get upset ok?" A look of defeat overcame the other girl's eyes as she stared at Nala as if she knew it wasn't going to happen, but she nodded her head for Nala to keep talking. She began,

"I respect you so much for coming out and asking me, that takes courage and I know how nervous you must have been, but my answer is no." The other girl looked down, crestfallen, but Nala continued. "It's not because you are a girl, or a matter of me being uncomfortable with that, the simple truth is that I'm not attracted to you like that. I'm straight personally, and even if I wasn't...well, in a relationship with Kyoya, I wouldn't be able to say yes to you because I am not attracted to other women like that. That is my personal choice, but please don't be mad at me about it or take it as me hating the fact you aren't straight. That's your choice, but it isn't for me because I'm just not biologically wired like that."

The other girl stared at her, tears in her eyes.

"You don't hate me for asking you out? Even though you're with Ootori? Or for the fact that I'm lesbian now?"

Nala shook her head.

"Not at all, like I said, it's your choice to like girls, who am I to say that's wrong? I respect that, and I just ask that you would respect me for not saying yes. I could never hate you for being lesbian, you're human just like me. Me hating you for that would be like saying I hate you for not liking the same food I do. Everyone has different tastes, I have no right to hate you for that, I may not agree, but again that would be like me finding out you didn't like chocolate. I can disagree and think chocolate is awesome even if you don't but I'm not gonna be mad at you over that! It would be ridiculous!"

The girl was still looking at the ground, but didn't appear quite as devastated.

"I guess you're right… Please don't tell anyone about this though, it can't get out at school, I'll be disowned, or worse my family would come for you, try to bribe you for your silence and I know you don't like lying…" The girl looked away with a blush, "I'm sorry, I should go...um, this is awfully rude of me, but can you get back by yourself?"

_Of course she's going to feel super awkward, she just asked me out and I said no...I'll take the subway or something, worst comes to worst I have to walk._

With that thought in mind, Nala smiled at her, and nodded, attempting to diminish the sudden awkwardness that had filled the air between them.

"Sure, it shouldn't be a problem."

Smiling, more of a grimacing wince than a smile, the other girl began backing away, throwing another apology over her shoulder as she did so before hurrying off to her car.

"Well," Nala spoke out loud to herself, "This week has definitely been eventful."

With a sigh, she went to pull out her phone, but paused as a clock bell chimed in the distance.

_Six...Seven...Eight… _

Nala counted out the chimes in her head, and her eyebrows rose. Since it was spring, the sun had been setting later, but to have it setting this late surprised her. She shook her head at herself in annoyance, it had been a bad move to not check what time the sun set because every time the sun set bad things started happening. And, if that creeping sense of foreboding slid up her spine again meant anything, tonight was definitely not going to be an exception. However, even as she thought that, her phone started to buzz, and on glancing down at it Nala was pleasantly surprised to see it was an incoming call from Kyoya. So, without hesitation she answered the phone.

He spoke before she could.

"Nala where are you?"

"Well hello there Ootori, can I just say this is a bit of a surprise? We're definitely breaking norms right and left today, also nice greeting."

She could just imagine his eyebrow rising at her words, but his tone was serious when he responded to her.

"I have a bad feeling, and it's centered around you. Wherever you are you need to get here, or to one of the hosts houses right now."

Nala's brow furrowed.

"Why?"

His voice was full of cold annoyance as he responded.

"I don't know. That's the problem, my gift of...clairvoyance is not always... perfect. I just know that you're in trouble."

Nala looked around herself briefly, taking in the swanky district, and the quiet air around it even if it was a busy area.

"Er, that might be a little hard to do at the moment…"

There was silence for a moment,

"Why?"

She winced.

"Um, I'm by the Akasaka Kikunoi branch restaurant, you know the really fancy one? And I'm kind of stranded here. I don't think any train stations are super near here now that I think about it, and it's too far to walk…"

He cursed, but she could've sworn she heard a smile in his voice when he spoke next.

"What exactly am I supposed to do with you when you keep getting yourself into these situations Nala?"

Before she could respond though, she heard something. Something high pitched, angry, _evil_. It was an eerie shriek of a woman, and a bird of prey, fury, death, a hunter. Very s lowly, Nala turned around, and what she saw almost made her drop the phone she was clutching to her ear.

The street she was on was practically empty, the people all inside eating at restaurants, or in the various other shops on the street. She was one of the only peoples standing out in the open, but that was not what made fear crawl up her spine. Oh no, it was the sight of what was above the buildings. Creatures,two of them almost birdlike in form with their large bat-like wings, and arms that tapered off into clawed hands, but that was where the similarity ended. The body and head were those of women, but the legs were...gone, as if they had been torn off and the tops of the monsters had flown free without them. The creature on the left, let loose another keening cry, and Nala felt those eyes land on her.

"Ootori," She swallowed hard, "please don't tell me you were calling to ask me if I have my affairs in order because the answer is no. What the hell are those things!?"

Hysteria was creeping into Nala's voice.

_I should've known that something would go wrong if I was out after sunset. I'm gonna die dammit and I only had a week left to see Maddy. And-_

Kyoya broke her out of her morbid thoughts.

"Nala you need to get out of the open, keep me on the phone. I didn't get the vision in time to keep you out of the area, another one just came, but Tokiya sent those. They're just minions. Honey and Mori are on their way, as well as myself, they're calling the twins and Tamaki too. You need to hide, and stay there for five minutes."

"Five minutes!?" Nala hissed into her phone as she tried to scan the area around her and watch the creatures at the same time. "Do you have any idea how long that is? And they look fast! What are they!?"

Kyoya's voice was calm, soothing, tranquil when he spoke, but Nala knew he was worried, could picture him sitting in his fancy car making calls and tapping his foot on the ground in frustration.

"They're called Manananggal, they hunt women for their hearts and crave unborn fetus'. They look like women during the day but at night their wings become unveiled and they separate from their lower bodies to go hunt prey They're often called 'tik-tik's' because that is their hunting noise when chasing their prey, but you don't want them to start hunting you. Walk, unhurried towards the closest business. The Manananggal's are pack animals, and cowards so if you can get into a crowded area they won't chase you. Whatever you do do not get caught alone understand?"

Nala mentally cursed everything in her life that had let her to this moment before she responded.

"Ok, I'll do my best. Please hurry I'm…" She paused, swallowed. "I'm scared, I've faced quite a few things since this started, but this? This time I'm...scared. And maybe it's cause I know how much I have to lose if this goes wrong, I dunno but please get here soon Kyoya."

The use of his first name made the boy on the other end of the line pause. It always got to him, maybe because she didn't use it all that much, but it had a way of getting to him that he wasn't sure was a good thing.

"I will Nala, just keep me on the phone and I'll be there. Now, walk casually towards a building."

She did that, slow, steady steps even though on the inside she wanted nothing more than to break and run for the hills screaming at the top of her lungs.

_Maybe all this supernatural stuff is too much for me, what if I can't do it? _However, Nala barely had that thought before she shook it away. _Who am I kidding, all my friends are elbow deep in it, and my boyfriend can see the future, so yeah I'd say I can handle it pretty well._

"Would it be bad for me to watch them Ootori?"

"No don't watch them, they'll take it as a challenge. Rule number one, never stare something down unless you know you can beat it."

_Right _

Nala ket moving, throwing the occasional glance to her side to watch them covertly.

"How much longer?"

Her voice trembled slightly on the last word.

"Four minutes, at this rate we should be there before they attack as long as nothing goes wrong."

As if on cue, a man stumbled out of a restaurant, drunk, weaving, looked up, and began to scream. The creatures heads swiveled towards him, and with haunting cries of their own, they dove. Nala hit the ground, and one flew right over her to her shock but it turned to horror when she realized what they were actually going to do. They were gonna kill the man to shut him up.

"Nala! Run! Do not look back just go!"

And now Kyoya sounded furious.

"I can't! I can't let them hurt someone innocent! Which direction are you driving from!?"

"Yes you can Nala, sometimes you have to to survive."

"Damn it Ootori, WHICH DIRECTION!?" She was shouting into the phone now, eyes casting about for some sort of weapon, and when he finally gave it after the barest of hesitations, Nala proceeded to give him a mini heart attack. "Awesome see you soon, and keep the doors open if I need to dive in." And with that, she hung up on him. Leaping to her feet, a rock in hand, Nala drew her arm back and with all her strength threw it as hard as possible at the Manananggal. It hit one, and with a shriek of anger, it spun in the air, its' companion doing the same until they were both watching her with their beady, black, bird-like eyes.

"Hey birdbrains! You want me right? Then you better be willing to chase me for it if you want Tokiya to give you any more bird food or whatever it is he's bribing you with!"

So saying, Nala didn't stick around to hear what they had to say, or even if they could speak at all; she ran. She last time she had run like this she realized was also when she had been running for her life and if she hadn't been in said predicament she would've laughed. No, Nala was a little more focused on staying alive. Sprinting down the street, she could hear the creature's wings as they flew after her, but she refused to make the mistake that all the girls in horror movies did by turning around and tripping. However, what Nala didn't count on, was exactly how fast the creatures would be with their wings.

They hit her hard and fast, one swooping in from the side, another from above forcing her to abandon her plan for straight running and instead turning her escape into some odd looking dance of weaving and ducking. Nala for a split second wondered how no one could see them outside, but a glance inside a nearby store reminded her that the sun was set and it was steadily growing dimmer and as the street lights hadn't turned on yet anyone inside a building would be unable to see much on the dim sidewalk outside. Since it was a walking district, cars were allowed down the road except for certain parking areas for people who were rich enough to pay for them so no one was really out and about. No cars, no people, so no one was or could be watching the brunette duck and cover as she ran for her life from creatures that weren't supposed to exist.

The creature on her left gave a low keening cry and swooped at her, causing her to hit the pavement to get away from it. Heart hammering in her chest, hands and knees stinging as she scrambled up and kept running, Nala wasn't sure how much longer she could hold the sprint she was going at. Already she had a stitch in her side, and her lungs were beginning to hurt.

_If I survive this I swear I will take up running on a daily basis._

Another cry from her right this time, and a heavy, clawed hand batted at her knocking her down and sending her tumbling several feet farther. Sides heaving for air, Nala struggled to her feet, but realized she was trapped.

The creatures had begun circling her, closing the circle in, and she couldn't duck between them to get out of the tight circle they were creating. She twisted her head from side to side, heart beating in her chest hummingbird fast, and every one of her senses on high alert. She was aware of the world around her in a way she never had been. The distance swish of cars, chatter of people safe inside the buildings around her, the wind brushing her skin light as a feather, the stench of death from the creatures circling her. It was all there, all glaringly, brilliantly, overwhelmingly there.

_Funny how it looks like me being about to die makes this happen._

Finally, the creatures began to slow. They had caused Nala to be forced into backing up against a building, and now they landed in front of her. Up close they were even worse than she had imagined they would. Dark hair hung around their pale faces, and their sunken eyes gleamed beadily like a bird's eyes as they stared at her. Their figures were beautiful though, and it was easy to see that before they had become these...Manananggal, that they had been beautiful women. Now however, they made hissing noises, and snapped their teeth together wetly like rabid animals, their arms were what held them up on the ground, long delicate looking arms that tapered off into razor sharp claws, claws that could easily shred her to pieces. It was their lower bodies though, that made Nala's stomach turn in horror and she struggled to hold down the meal she had eaten barely half an hour before. They had indeed separated from their lower bodies, but it was not a clean separation. Oh no, it looked like they had ripped themselves from their lower bodies, it was all dangling flesh and entrails, loose, jagged, bloody, and completely gag-worthy.

One of the creatures dragged itself forward, baring its fang like teeth at her with a hiss.

"The massster wantssss you alive human."

It spoke like a snake, hissing and spitting out its words, which made sense to Nala since it had to talk around those fangs like that, but still. The other one followed its sister monster.

"Can't touch he sssaid." It licked its lips. "But we can sssmell you. Ssso Sssweet." It bared its teeth in a gruesome smile at Nala, a long, snake like black tongue sliding out and licking down its' chin before disappearing back into its mouth. Nala shuddered, fear pounding a steady rhythm through her body, her eyes darting around for an escape route that didn't seem to be there. A glance at her phone showed she'd been running for barely two minutes.

_Well shit. Three minutes left to go._

The Manananggal' dragged themselves forwards, the muscles in their upper arms flexing with the movement and Nala swallowed hard. If they got their hands on her she was a gonner and they all knew it, but with her back to the wall, and no escape in sight there wasn't much she could do. Unless…

"Wait!" So maybe her voice was a little frantic, whose wouldn't be? "What is Tokiya paying you to do this? I'm sure I can pay you more!"

Of course she couldn't but they didn't need to know that. The one on the left, closer to her cocked its head.

"Sssilly little human. You could not raissse uss you cannot feed usss." It slid forward an inch, voice hissing out. It laughed, an evil, ugly sound as it repeated some sort of ritualistic words. "Blood for blood, death for death, sssacrifice for ssssacrifice."

The other one cut in.

"You think that ssstupid human called usss? Only the ssorcerer could. He wantsss you, he will find you, come with usss now."

"But, uh, what sorcerer? He can't be that powerful can he?"

_Stalling stalling stalling, why is every evil villain prone to fall for it?_

The creatures stared at her, frozen for a moment, before glancing at each other as if silently surprised.

"If you do not know, then it isss time for you to become acquainted." The monsters cackled. "Don't worry sssilly girl, soon you will be like one of ussss."

_I'm gonna puke._

"Now, enough sssstalling. We are going to bring you with usss for the massster to play with. You owe a debt of blood." It's long, black tongue slithered out and in again as if it was licking its lips in glee at the thought of this blood debt. "Come with usss or the othersss will pay."

Nala shot one last desperate glance at her phone screen for the time.

_Less than a minute… wait… what was that..._

She glanced around again, another desperate look, and a small smirk slid over her lips before she sagged against the wall. Dramatically, she threw her hands out - making sure they still couldn't quite reach her - and slid a little farther down the wall.

"Fine! Take me! I see how it is," She shot them a low look, "But, before you do, can I ask a question?"

The Manananggal paused in their advance, and tilted their heads, their hair sliding off their shoulders with the movement.

"What?"

Nala pulled her hand away from her eyes so they could see the almost triumphant look she'd been attempting to hide.

"How do you feel about tigers?"

The creatures paused, froze, and then began to move.

"Ssstupid human, you can't sstall any-"

Whatever the monster was about to say was cut off as two massive tigers lunged from the darkness of the alley next to them, and slammed into it with muted roars. It was a mess of teeth, and flashing fangs as the creatures fought, but for the life of her Nala couldn't figure out which twin was which as they fought.

_Whichever one is which, please be careful!_

She sent a silent prayer upwards before spinning and dashing down the same alley the tiger had come from, drawing the other Manananggal after her in hopes to help the tigers by it not being able to join in the fight. As Nala ran, she scooped up a large rock in some freakily smooth motion, and whirled chucking it at the monster scrambling after her. Since the alleyway was too narrow, the Manananggal couldn't fly and was forced to chase her by dragging itself quickly on its arms. Because of this, it wasn't able to avoid the rock, and it slammed into it. Letting loose a shrill cry, it stopped and grabbing at the alley walls, yanked itself up and up until it had wing space before taking off into the night.

At the entrance to the alley, the tigers appeared, and behind them a limo pulled up. Nala had a brief moment to hope that it wasn't some freaky coincidence that her enemies would have tigers, and a limo just like the host club had, before she fainted from shock.

*** Authors Note ***

DUN DUN DUN PLOT TWIST! I know I'm evil mwahahaha! Well, maybe not, but in all seriousness this chapter was my moment to spice things up since we haven't had much exciting stuff happen in Nala's life recently. What did you guys think? I knew I was taking a risk by having another girl ask Nala out, but I feel like that's not a topic that is broached enough, and I hope that Nala handled it in a way that can keep you all happy. There will probably only be two or three more chapters left of Nala's tale, so be prepared for what's coming next

Shout out to…

Rarity123 + MickeyLOLgirl + Anariel Phoenix Blade + PaigeNightingale + crazy1person2you3been4warned + The Vitruvian Woman (Thanks for the follows and favs guys!)

killjarkidranger (Hahah you can ship anything you want man! Thanks though!)

animeloverbird (hi there! First of all thank you SO MUCH for your sweet review! It made my day! Also, I would love to help you out, could you PM me so we can chat about the school thing?)

Barracuda57 (THANK YOU!)

swimmer1102 (awesome! Thank you so much! I would love it if you recommended my story to your friend :D also yes, I will most likely add as a bonus to the end of this story, the first part of the first chapter I write of Maddy's story. That way all my readers will know about it)


	51. Chapter 50

Nala came to on a warm cloud.

_Does this mean I died and went to heaven? I'm cool with that, it's warm and soft… _

She snuggled in closer on the bed, and the person with her made a noise of annoyance and poked her side.

_Wait… Person!?  
_Snapping her eyes open, she all but rolled off the bed in her state of panic, flailing her arms, and dragging the sheet with her.

"NALLL-CHAN IT"S COLD NOWWWW!"

"HONEY!?"  
"GIve me back the blaaannnket!"

"Why the heck were you in my bed?! And how did I get here!?"

Nala looked around in shock. She was definitely in her bedroom, and that was definitely Honey bouncing on her bed, but how had she gotten there? Honey cocked his head at her, his big brown eyes regarding her thoughtfully.

"You don't remember?" Nala shook her head at him. "Oh! Well, After the twins took care of the Manananggal, you passed out from shock, and then we brought you here. Kyoya and the rest are in the living room talking, but I got cold so I came to snuggle with you!"  
Nala searched his face at the last words, but saw nothing creepy or malicious as you often would when someone of the opposite gender said them, but instead all she saw reflected in his honey brown eyes was pure sincerity. She smiled at him softly.

"Thanks Honey, I should probably go out there, those things told me some stuff I think I should relay to Kyoya."

So saying, she stood back up, and beckoning at Honey to follow her, they left the bedroom. Walking into the living room however, was like walking into a war prep room. There were several large maps of city of Ouran laid out on the ground, there were photos up on the walls, some of Tokiya, others of various shady looking characters, some of Nala herself. Notes were scattered in piles around the floor, and around the room itself, stood the various other hosts. They seemed oblivious to Nala and Honey entering the room however, and continued talking; Tamaki's annoyed voice taking precedence over the others.

"-doesn't make sense! We must be missing something, or someone, because these all look like regular humans. They have to have someone with magic controlling it all!"

"We agree boss, but it's not like we can just go out there asking everyone if they've seen some creepy man in a cape summoning demons."

The twins deadpan voices made Tamaki snarl at them in annoyance, and Haruhi stroked a hand down his back in a soothing manner.

"Would it help if I had a name for you of this person?"

When Nala chimed in, the other hosts jumped, and Kyoya turned away from the pictures he was studying of Tokiya on the wall to face her.

A brief smile slid over his lips, before it turned into his signature smirk, and stepping away from the wall he came to stand in front of her.

"That would help somewhat, of course in theory if you actually had it which I think we all would deserve since you keep recklessly putting yourself in danger."

She cocked an eyebrow at him.

"In theory, you know totally hypothetical really, but if this person's name - or what other people seem to call him - was "The Sorcerer" would that help?"

The real smile was back on his face, small though it was.

"In theory my dear Miss Fuyumi, that would narrow down the search exponentially considering how ridiculous of a name that is."

"That's what I was thinking too!"

At Nala's words, Kyoya let out a chuckle, before brushing a hand over her shoulder, and turning away to pick up his phone and dial someone's number. He stepped into the hallway to make his call in private, and Nala - not intentionally wanting to ignore the others, but needing to see - stepped up to the wall to look at the photos of the man who had been a constant shadow over her life for the last few months. The one behind every attack, every threat, her constant fear, and now that this could possibly end because they might have found the leader was mind boggling.

Her eyes trailed over his face slowly, filling in the little features that the grainy photos didn't have. The cruel twist of his mouth, the cunning, snake-like expression in his eyes. She shuddered, her mind flashing back to the day in the police office with Maria when he had been there staring at her, knowing all the things she didn't know. With a sigh, Nala turned away from the photos and pasted on a smile for the other hosts in the room who were watching her with wary eyes as if they expected her to start screaming hysterically at the sight of the photos. Haruhi was the first to snap out of it, and nudged Tamaki hard in the side.

"Anyone up for a snack? Nala and I can cook it now while we wait."

The twins cheered, and Honey and Tamaki both turned big, hopeful eyes towards Haruhi. Nala laughed.

"Well, I guess we should take that as a yes Haru!"

The other girl laughed, and Nala and Haruhi walked into the kitchen with the cheers of the other hosts ringing behind them

*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*

An hour later found the hosts scarfing down as much food as they could eat, while Kyoya stayed in the girls bedroom to keep investigating the strange man that Nala had told him about.

"Can I have another rice ball Nal-chan?" Honey, who was sitting across from her at the table turned his bes puppy dog eyes on her in an attempt to get her to help him fill his seemingly unfillable appetite. 'Just _one _more?"

"Mitsukuni." Mori, who was sitting at his cousin's side looked at him and shook his head. "Don't beg."

Honey pouted, but didn't say anything else. Nala smiled to herself as she looked around the table. The twins were bickering over who knew what, Honey and Tamaki were gobbling down as much as food as possible while Haruhi and Mori tried to slow them down for fear of them ending up with stomach aches, and Kyoya wasn't in sight but knowing he was there made Nala happy.

_I should probably go check on him, see if he wants anything…_

She stood up from the table - the other hosts too busy to notice - grabbing a plate of food as she went and walked down the hall to her bedroom. She knocked briefly, but went in without waiting for permission.

_It's my room anyway so I don't think I need to worry about it._

Kyoya looked up as she entered the room from where he was sitting stretched out on the bed, his dark eyes looked tired behind his glasses, and his normally smooth, always perfect hair was mussed as if he had been running his hands through it constantly. His eyes flickered from her face to her hands and he smirked when he saw the food.

"You're definitely not worried about trying to mother me are you, Nala?"

She laughed, shutting the door and crossing the room to hand him the plate of food.

"Definitely not, besides I was pretty sure you don't have the ability to magic up food for yourself and I knew you hadn't eaten since I woke up which was a while ago so I figured I'd bring you something." She hesitated, before gesturing at the bed. "Can I join you?" He raised an eyebrow and she flushed bright red, smacking him in the shoulder. "Not like that you weirdo!"

It was his turn to chuckle, but he patted the bed next to him and she plopped down onto it. He had obtained a laptop from somewhere, and she watched curiously as he typed out information rapidly. Clinical information about the case, details about herself, her father, Tokiya, the events that had happened so far etc.

"You're looking for a common connection between it all aren't you?"

He didn't lift his eyes from the screen as he typed, but his answer was calm and collected as if all his attention was on her.

"Yes, we've missed something, there's some piece that is connecting it all and we've been blind to it all along. I have a theory, but I'm waiting for a call from my family's private police force in order to know if it's accurate."

She bumped his shoulder with hers.

"If it's your theory then it's accurate. I trust you Kyoya."

He paused his typing, sucking in a quick breath, before resuming.

_What was that about?_

Nala stared at his profile curiously, and she could've sworn his cheeks were dusted faintly red, but it was gone so fast she couldn't be sure.

"Trust is a weak illusion in the real world. It is something that the powerful buy from the weak, and something that is crushed and thrown away when it is convenient." Nala's mouth snapped open to angrily tell him he was wrong, but he cut her off before she could even start. "That's how it has always been in my house. Affection, trust, feelings, none of it matters more than logic. Being able to calculate the outcome of any situation and planning it to your own success is what matters, but I've found that in the last few months that might not be so true." His eyes slid towards her as he turned his head, there faces were so close their noses were almost brushing, and Nala could smell the mint on Kyoya's breath as he spoke; his eyes still locked on hers. "Tamaki trusts me no matter what because he knows I'm smart enough to get whatever it is done. Haruhi trusts me because she knows I'm ruthless enough to accomplish what I say I will. The twins, Honey and Mori trust me because they admire my abilities both magical and non-magical. But you? You have been a puzzle to me since the first day Nala. You trusted me blindly without any reason too just because you could. Even when I threatened to cut you off if you hurt the club, you handed my threat right back to me, and kept trusting." His dark eyes flickered down to her lips and back up again and Nala vaguely noticed that at some point his glasses had disappeared making the heat that glimmered in his expression seem ten times stronger. "And, I do believe that the last time I woke up with you in a bed with me I warned you of the dangers of being alone with a man in a bed."

Nala laughed at him, low and cheerful.

"And I remember flipping you off the bed easily Ootori, I think I'm safe if I'm ever caught in a bed with a strange man."

His eyebrows went up.

"Oh really? And what about if you're caught in a bed with a man who isn't a stranger hm?"

Nala's heart began to thump, because oh yes he had definitely been looking at her lips when he said that.

"Well, I assume there would be a good reason for me to be in the same bed as him then."

"Mm I'm sure. Doing something like helping save the world?"

"Always."

_He definitely just leaned closer, I'm not crazy, oh em gee is he gonna kiss me-_

...

...

His cellphone rang.

Kyoya jerked as if waking from a trance, and grabbed his phone to answer it leaving Nala in a heady state of confusion and whatever hormones were surging through her with how close he had come to kissing her.

_Of course his frickin phone had to ring. Damn it!_

Kyoya reached down and slid his glasses back on, making a few noncommittal noises into the phone before hanging up without even a goodbye.

"What did they say?!"

Nala waited with bated breath for Kyoya's response, as he turned his dark eyes towards her. They were suddenly serious, any heat that had been in them before wiped clean by whatever the person on the other end of the line had said.

"They found what I needed."

His voice held almost no emotion, and his eyes were cold as he spoke. When she first met him Nala would've taken his response for anger, but now, no now she knew better. Whatever he had been told had shocked him greatly, maybe even scared him a little bit and he was shutting down in order to hide that he was nervous.

"And?"

She prodded him, waiting breathlessly for his response.

"We're looking for a dead man."

*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*

"WHAT!?" Tamaki gaped at Kyoya and Nala in shock. "A dead man!? Like a vampire!? It can't be possible! I would've known! As the vampire prince I am required to know all of them, he couldn't have gotten by me!"

Haruhi, who like normal stood by his side nodded in agreement.

"He can't be a vampire, Tamaki is right, and he wouldn't have been able to stay undetected for so long if he was."

Honey's eyes were thoughtful as he and Mori glanced at each other,and the twins were all but vibrating with anger, but Kyoya spoke first.

"He's not a vampire. My sources have confirmed who he is however, or was." He strode forward and sat on the couch, tugging Nala to sit with him. "His name was Goro Hiroto, and he was an alchemic magician for the Circus of the Damned. It was an evil place that the country fought to have shut down - without alerting the common people - due to the ideas behind it. It was a place that worshipped the Waru, believing that if they payed homage through the circus that they would be bestowed with powers by the devil himself. It mysteriously burned to the ground in 1967 and there were no survivors. However, soon after it burned down, statesmen across the country who had been fighting to have it shut down, and who many believe orchestrated the fire to burn it to the ground, were found butchered brutally in their own homes. Signs of alchemy were found, and it was discovered that all the bodies had been experimented on before they died. Tortured to death in the name of alchemic science. Along with the bodies there was always the alchemic symbol for fusion, and a calling card for a mysterious person who called himself "The Sorcerer". Due to his position as an alchemic magician at the circus there was always speculation that it was Goro Hiroto, but he was never discovered and eventually is case file fell away as time went by and no new kills were made."

"How the hell do we find this guy then!?"The twins' voices were full of annoyance. "It's kinda hard to fight a ghost."

"Not as hard as you would think." Honey quipped from the side. "Do we have any clues on this bad man Kyo-kun?"

Kyoya shook his head.

"Almost nothing. He practically is a ghost. All we have is that he seems to be the one orchestrating everything behind the attacks on Nala. Even," He paused for a moment, his dark eyes cutting to said girl, before he spoke. "Even the supernatural ones."

And that was when the real outrage filled the room. Everyone was talking at once; the twins were shouting in shock, Tamaki and Honey were trying to deny how that was possible, while Haruhi and Nala were shouting for everyone to be quiet so they didn't disturb the neighbors. Mori, to the shock of everyone in the room, became the voice of reason.

'Everyone, stop talking." And with those three words, utter silence filled the room as the other hosts turned to gape at him. Mori for his part just raised his eyebrows at the rest of them, and sat down in the closest chair. From his spot on the couch, Kyoya let out an annoyed sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"I understand that it shouldn't be possible to control those supernatural as most of them are quite powerful; but the low level ones such as the Aka Manto would be easier. Also, since he was, or is, an alchemist we all know that they have touch with things far darker than any of us care to think about. Honey and Mori here are probably the closest to him in that regard, but they use natural means to fight back taking strength from nature whereas alchemists create unnatural strength. It upsets the balance so no, I don't understand how he's doing it, but we will soon. I'm already looking into it."

There is a collective silence from the other members in the room, which was broken by Nala.

"So you're telling me that the guy behind everything, the person my dad sold me to for money is actually a crazy magical scientist who probably just wanted me for his experiments, but since I keep slipping out of his grasp he's upping the ante and comin for me more and more? Well that sure makes sense."

She threw her hands in the air in frustration.

_How did my life ever get so crazy again?_

*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*

**Somewhere across the world in America**

Maddy stared at her parents in surprise. Her father was holding the ticket out to her with a cold expression of distaste, and her mother was doing her best to ignore her by inspecting her nails. Maddy winced on the inside but kept a straight face as she stared at the ticket; refusing to let her mother's indifference to her sting like her father's hatred was beginning to.

"What is this for?"  
Her father stared at her with frosty eyes and a frown tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"The... modeling company sent you a ticket. They want you to come a few days early in order to go through paperwork that they need you to sign in their office with the CEO present."

Maddy couldn't help lift her eyebrows slightly in surprise as she reached slowly towards the ticket.

"Must be some pretty serious paperwork if the CEO has to be present."

Her father pinned her down with a chilling stare before speaking again, seeming to pretend he hadn't heard her murmured comment.

"You will conduct yourself in a way that will not bring shame to my name, or I will send your resignation papers and have you locked in this house so quickly you won't even be able to say "Aye". Understood?"

Maddy gave a jerky nod of her head, dropping her blue eyes towards the floor.

"Also," Maddy's eyes snapped towards her mother in shock when the woman spoke. "You will be surveying the dating pool, out yourself out there, but for the love of all that is dear don't whore yourself out. Insert figuratively, not literally or it'll be me destroying any chance you have at this silly attempt at independence."

Maddy pasted on a bland look of understanding, but on the inside her mind was absolutely whirling. The idea of freedom, even coming only a few days early, lit her up on the inside, but it was with a deferential nod and a murmured promise of obedience that helped her flee the room with the ticket safely in hand. However, as she dashed up the stairs towards her room, ticket in hand something very close to a squeal sounded in the air.

*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*

Officer Tokiya shifted uneasily from where he stood hidden in the shadows at the mouth of a dark, dank alley.

"Sir they know. They've figured out who you are and-"

A voice that sent shudders up his spine as if death herself had drawn a cold finger up his spine, crawled over him from the shadows; cutting him off and speaking its' mind.

"And nothing. They have nothing to go off of. They are powerful, but their power is splintering, The Hitachiin twins do not have long until their minds shatter, Kyoya and Tamaki are caught up in protecting their own women, and the priests are children too young yet to understand how to face me." There was a brief pause made by the unseen speaker, before he emerged from the shadows. Tokiya couldn't contain the fear that crawled through his body at the sight of the skeletal hands with clawlike nails, the eyes that nearly glowed in the dark,and the slow rasp of the sorcerer's feet as he walked slowly back into the alley. "However, I sense something stirring. There is a shift in the balance and the world I come from knows it. We can sense it coming to them, and we must get rid of it first." A low chuckle sounded from the creature as a noise like a grate being shifted squealed across the silence of the night. "It's imperative we move quickly before the power balance shifts Officer. These are delicate matters I don't expect you to understand, but we need to get rid of the girl. We are being paid to do a job, and I intend to see it through no matter what, or who, gets in my way."

The deathlike silence that had slid over the night lifted and the bugs began to sing again as the shadows in the alley seemed to lighten too when the monster disappeared from it.

Tokiya let out a sigh of relief at the creature's absence, before lifting his phone from his pocket and making a call.

"It's time for the next plan. Scaring her isn't going to work, so we're going to take what she wants away."

*V*V*V*V*V*V*

Later that same night, oblivious to the turmoil and evil brooding in the darkness outside in the city, Nala lay on her bed unable to sleep. Images from the day before flashed through her mind; running from the monsters, Kyoya almost kissing her, the realization of who was chasing her, Kyoya almost kissing her… Honestly, there was too much to think about, she was going to go crazy. The hosts had opted to stay the rest of the night, all of them still unsettled from the attack on her, and how everything was developing around them. Nala sighed and rolled over onto her side, her mind still whirling even though she was physically tired.

A buzz sounded from the nightstand beside her, and Nala grabbed for her phone ready to welcome any distraction she could get at the moment. A text from Maddy wasn't what she had expected though, and her eyebrows lifted in surprise when she read it.

**Company I'm workin for sent a ticket, they want me to come in a few days early to sign paperwork. Gettin there in two days instead of five now. Srry for the late notice!**

Nala sighed softly, a warm, happy feeling bubbling up inside of her, and putting the phone back onto the table without responding - deciding to save it for the morning instead - she managed to fall asleep with a smile on her face.

**Authors Note**

So I got a job :D I'll admit, i'm a little bit nervous since my second official day is next week and I have no idea what I'll be doing for it, BUT here's a new chapter guys! I'm also alive too, and sorry for the prolonged absence. I have the ending scene all written out already, it's just a matter of conquering writer's block to fill in the details between now and that ending scene. It's lookin like we only have two chapters left of this story though guys! Thank you so much for reading it! As always, reviews are greatly, greatly appreciated.

Shout out to…

Dragonsheartsong + JustAnotherKawaiiOtaku + LizzyRose797 +Padgemb + Dec Jane + Thalia Phantomhive + SuagSugaX (THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE FOLLOWS AND FAVS GUYS!)

animegal1357 (she fainted because of shock! And thanks! I read a lot on them before I added them in so I wanted them to be accurate!)

swimmer1102 (oh darn! And I'm not super comfortable putting my age out on here sorry, too many strange/creepy people who can use that Info weirdly. It happened to a friend of mine so I'm hesitant about personal information.)

killjarkidranger (haha thank you!)

ktmyldy28 (thank you, capturing personalities is definitely the trickiest thing)


	52. Chapter 51

Nala's eyes snapped open in the early hours of the next morning, and she gasped in horror as she rolled off the bed and hit the floor. Maddy was coming in two days, _two _days not five like she had been supposed to. This meant they had two days in which to find The Sorcerer and get rid of him so Maddy wouldn't be in danger.

"I have to text her, I have to let her know she can't come. Oh shit, oh shit…"

From across the room in her own bed, Haruhi let out a groan of annoyance.

"Nala shut up I'm sleeping."

Nala winced, glancing at the clock and seeing it was only three in the morning.

"Sorry Haru! I'll just...go...this way…"

She tiptoed out of the bedroom, and down the hall to the kitchen wincing at every creak of the floorboards and hoping none of the hosts were awake. She needed some peace and quiet after the last few days of craziness in order to figure out a way to get Maddy to stay in America.

Slipping into the kitchen, she went straight for the tea cabinet, pulling out a green tea that in her personal opinion had the most soothing smell to it, and going to the cabinet to grab a mug.

"You're up early."

Kyoya's voice behind her made her yelp in surprise, nearly dropping the mug, she caught it precariously with two fingers.

"Damn it Ootori! You scared me!" A sly, unrepentant grin was all she received in response. "And trust me I didn't want to be up this early, I just woke up and I knew I wasn't going to sleep again so I thought I would come have tea."

Kyoya nodded in understanding.

"Mind if I join you?" When Nala nodded and turned back to put the water into the pot after setting her mug on the counter. A few minutes later found the two of them sipping tea; Nala with her bitter green tea, and Kyoya with something red and fruity. "So what's wrong Nala?" His dark eyes watched her quietly as he sipped his tea. "You practically ran out of your bedroom and you looked upset. Also, you're never up this early unless something is going on."

Nala sighed.

"Maddy texted me, I need to talk to you about a game plan. Want to go sit on the couch?"

The other hosts were bunking in Haruhi's father's room for the night so she knew it was open. Kyoya smirked at her, before standing and reaching out a hand towards her.

'Of course."

*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*

Kyoya kept his thoughts to himself after Nala told him Maddy would be coming early, merely nodding and getting up to grab his laptop and notebook to start working on a solution. At some point, Nala drifted to sleep against his side, curled up against his warmth and falling asleep to the knowledge that he would keep her safe.

Gently, several hours later, Kyoya woke Nala up to find the other hosts eating breakfast around the living room table. As they ate, Nala told the other hosts what Maddy had texted to her.

"Well great, now we have to watch out for two of them."

Her eyes cut to where the twins were lounging on the couch in a careless manner, and her temper rose. However, before she could speak Kyoya did - as if reading her mind - and intervened before she could say the cutting words that were on the tip of her tongue.

"A friend of one of us is a friend of all of us. Both of you know that, so calm down." They turned golden eyes on him, as if weighing the consequences of continuing their rebellious attitude, but before long looked away with careless boredom painted on their beautiful faces. Nala sighed, and focused on Kyoya as he spoke again.

She knew they were on edge because they were running out of time, knew they were scared and covering it up with brashness to hide that fear, but it still irked her when they did it. She hoped that the calming presence that Maddy possessed would somehow help calm them, but knowing the twins it would probably only bother them more to meet someone who actually was calm, and put together.

"Guys, let's not argue about it please. As soon as Maddy gets here I'll finish telling her about everything that's going on. To be honest she's surprisingly resourceful from what I remember and maybe she has connections that we don't know about."

That seemed to calm the twins down slightly, but they still watched Kyoya closely, and it made Nala's heart hurt to see the animal like wariness that was clinging to their expressions. She was really starting to hate the effect that their magic was having on them, it was like the light inside that made them them was being overpowered by the darkness of their second halves.

_Something needs to be done…_

She shook the thought away as she focused more on Kyoya's words.

"We'll meet her ourselves, I'll talk to her myself and get her trip details and plan it from their. Then, we'll bring her back here and can plan something from their. It should be a relatively easy plan to stick to."

"Yeah, as long as nothing goes wrong."

The twins voices made Nala facepalm.

"Guys come on, we're trying to make this easier for everyone. None of us planned on this happening. Please, please, please try to go along with it even if you don't like it." Hikaru and Kaoru were both shifting in their seats, making miniscule movements as if they itched all over, and Nala's eyes narrowed on them both. "Are you guys ok?"

Hikaru's eyes flashed gold, and Kaoru shook his head.

"No." They spoke in unison, and a low growl escaped Hikaru's throat. "We can feel them, the tigers, they're getting restless, they know something."

Nala turned confused eyes on the other hosts and Honey answered her and Haruhi's unspoken question in a hushed voice.

"Sometimes, the soul knows things. Their restless because something is coming and they don't know what. The tigers sense things, but since the twins fight their spirits so much their relationship isn't smooth enough to transfer over what the tigers know. It leaves them unsettled and the tigers upset."

Nala nodded slowly, watching the twins as they shifted in discomfort for another moment before seemingly forcing themselves to be still. Kyoya spoke to cover the silence, and finally it seemed that the rest of the hosts all listened to him.

"Nala will call Miss Aisling in a moment to discuss her flight details with her, and then we will all take it from there."

The rest of the hosts nodded diligently, Tamaki, and Honey looking alive and ready to fight anything that came their way, the twins looking prepared yet bored, and Mori, well, he looked like Mori. Haruhi was grinning happily at the idea of seeing Maddy, and suggested they go out and buy ice cream to bring back and celebrate with. The hosts all cheered, and the twins, Tamaki, and Honey dashed out of the room to get their coats and shoes on while Haruhi, and Mori, trailed after them.

Kyoya turned to Nala, a smile on his face as he slipped his hand over hers.

"Think you're ready to be done with all of this finally Miss Fuyumi?"

Nala grinned at him unrepentantly.

"Hell yeah I am Ootori."

*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*

It was one in the morning when the buzzing of Maddy's phone woke her. She had fallen asleep reading a book that was due for school the next day, with her headphones in, and it took her a moment to blink away the disorientation and untangle the headphones from around her neck before sleepily answering the phone.

"'Ello?"

"Maddy? Oh shit it's like one A.M. for you or something isn't it. I'm sorry!"

"Nala?" Maddy rubbed the sleep from her eyes and blinked again, feeling slightly more awake. "Why are yeh callin' meh this early? Di' somethin' 'appen?"

"What? Oh no, no, I just needed to call you and it was kind of urgent and couldn't wait."

"Oooohhhhkkaaayyy." Maddy wished the lights were on so she could wake up a bit more easily, and blinked again. "Tell meh what's up so I can go back to meh bed please."

Weirdly enough the room was looking brighter, and Maddy shook her head in annoyance. She must be more awake now and that was all it was.

"Well, remember everything I told you about what's going on here? How Maria was trying to help me catch the bad guy and Kyoya and the hosts?" She didn't wait for an answer, but continued speaking. "Well, we've made a breakthrough and some of this is going to sound crazy but I can't tell you until you get here what all of it is but we know who I need to be protected from. And we need to pick you up from the airport."

Maddy glanced at the clock beside her bed, surprised she could see it so well in the dimly lit room. Wait, dimly lit….

"Oh shit!"

Maddy dropped the phone and all but vaulted off the bed to blow out the candles on her dresser which all held flames that were growing dangerously high. Shaken, and nervous, she scrambled back into her warm bed and picked up the phone to Nala's worried voice asking her if she was ok.

"Aye, I am, just saw some candles that I coulda sworn I blew out before I went to bed but they were flickerin' merrily across the room just now."

"Weird! At least nothing caught on fire!"

Maddy chuckled.

"Aye, ye're right. Anyway, the plan! Sorry, I'm a bit outta sorts 'cause I 'ave school tomorrow. It's my last day before I transfer out of it and move back to Japan so I 'ave my last final test tomorrow. Um, right, so I'll be landin' in Haneda National Airport and will be takin' a bus from their to the Bunkyō ward in Tokiyo to the Ouran bus station there. Then was going to take a taxi from there to meet you at your apartment. If yeh want to meet meh there though, I'm completely okay wi' it."

There was an odd echoing quality to the phone, as if someone else had somehow joined the conversation from another line, but Maddy shook it off and waited for Nala's reply. They confirmed the date and time, and made idle chit chat for a few minutes before a large yawn on Maddy's end of the line had the other girl laughing and telling her to go back to bed.

"Good luck on your final tomorrow Maddy! I know you're going to do awesome!"

Maddy grinned tiredly.

"I hope so, 'm not too concerned 'bout it, but one can never know for sure. Ye're right though, I do need sleep, I'll talk to yeh later okay?"

So saying, the girls said their goodbyes, and hung up.

Maddy snuggled down further into her comforter, wondering how she had forgotten to blow out her candles when she distinctly remembered doing so. Shrugging, she let sleep pull her down and fell into a dreamless slumber.

*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*VV*

As for Nala, she was left looking at her phone and wondering how she had, yet again, forgotten to ask Maddy who she was coming to work for in Japan. Sighing, she headed back to the living room to let Kyoya known what she and Maddy had worked out. She glanced at a picture standing on a small table. Incense stood ready to burn beside it in memory of the loved ones in the picture, and Nala couldn't help the small, sad smile that crossed her lips at the sight of it.

It was a photo of her and Haruhi's mothers with the girls. A second picture stood beside it, and Nala walked over to inspect it. It made her choke back a hysterical laugh. Leave it to Haruhi's father to mourn the figurative loss of people in their lives who had yet to die.

In the second photo was a picture of Maddy as a young girl standing with both of her parents. Her father's cold eyes watched the camera, and Maddy's mother's eyes just looked desperate. Between them, sat Maddy, laughing at the camera as if whoever was behind it was the light of her life from the way her face was alight with joy as she stared past the camera at them.

Nala took a moment to admire how little Maddy looked like her parents. Her father had rugged, weathered skin, and dark brown hair and eyes, while her mother was fair skinned with wavy blond hair and light brown eyes. Standing between them, Maddy with her riot of dark auburn curls, and ocean blue eyes stood out like a beacon. The only similarity one could see was that she had her mother's fair, pale skin. Shaking her head, Nala whispered a silent prayer to her mom to watch out for the meeting to make sure it all went smoothly when they went to get Maddy; then she went to go curl up with her boyfriend on the couch while he worked, a thought that made an unholy grin curl the corners of her lips up. It felt so good to be able to call him that.

*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*

While Honey and Tamaki argued over which ice cream to buy, the twins hung back quietly under the pretext of looking over the commoners store. As they drifted down another aisle, out of sight from the other hosts, Hikaru sagged against his brother's shoulder, and Kaoru held him up. It took another moment to gain the strength to stand on his own on two legs, but Hikaru managed it somehow, and while he swayed for a moment, he righted himself. Kaory shot his brother a worried look. Hikaru was far closer to his inner animal then Kaoru was. Far more evenly split so fighting the influence of the tiger was growing harder. It was harder to change back after shifting, and harder to fight the shift itself. Kaoru knew that what he was feeling, his twin was feeling worse, and it concerned him. He didn't know how much longer they could hold out before giving into their inner animals. It was only so long before they couldn't do it anymore, and if one of them succumbed to the call, the other one would willingly follow him into it.

They shared a glance, and a moment of weakness, of fear, before pushing it away resolutely. They knew it wasn't fair to lash out at the other hosts like they had been doing, especially towards Nala and Haruhi, but they had no excuse for it. Their animals controlled more things they felt now than the boys themselves did. They knew the hosts worried, and their mother worried, knew their mother had gone to visit a seer to see what could be done for her two cubs - because after all a mother tigresses love for her cubs never leaves, and the fierce protectiveness never did either - and she had found nothing. She was fighting for them, they knew it, but they also knew that until their completing half came, that nothing could be done. Their souls were crying out constantly know, and it was a dull ache they carried in their chests with them everywhere they went.

The ache followed them, but not only that, but fear that they would snap in a public place. The magical community had ways of covering these things up, but they were high profile enough that both of them disappearing would be a challenge. They sighed in unison, feeling their tigers pacing behind the walls of the cages the twins imagined them being trapped in. They shared a long look, golden eyes searching golden eyes, sharing strength, their silent fears, and the courage they had in each other. Finally, they stepped back out of the empty aisle, identical smirks on each of their faces, and were ready to take on or hide from the world.

They couldn't give up, not yet, not when it felt like the constant ache they both felt from the lack of their connecting mate that was growing was growing because she was coming closer. Maybe they were delusional, but the ache felt like bittersweet hope.

Or maybe it wasn't, and their dreams were going to crash around them in pain, and fear, and animal hunger before fading away.

Either way, they would stand together until fate made it's final decision.

*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*

The next day,after an uneventful night for which all of the hosts were incredibly grateful for, a letter was waiting, taped to Haruhi's door, and addressed to Nala. When Haruhi brought it to her, Nala stared at it with a furrowed brow. The handwriting was elegant, precise, not what she had expected from her would be killers, because really, who else could it be? The other hosts had stayed the night again, calling Tamaki's father to let him know why they were missing the school day, and he had excused them. That is, all but Kyoya who had to go to school. He had held Nala close that morning before he left, stroking a gentle hand over her hair before stepping away with a smirk.

"Have a nice day Miss Fuyumi, and please, for the sake of my grades and heart stay safe."

Now, staring at the letter, Nala wondered if that would be possible. She glanced warily at Haruhi, who was staring at the letter just as nervously, before shrugging and ripping the fancy wax seal off and opening it to read.

_Dear Nala Fuyumi,_

_It's a pleasure to finally write to you myself. To be entirely honest, well, I was disappointed it took you so long to discover who I am. Of course, I had also been hoping to have you with me by now. Now though, that is of no consequence because now I know you know who I am, and I have some things to tell you._

_Firstly, you're eyes are a lovely shade of green, I do truly admire their color and can't wait for them to be mine to see all the time._

_Secondly, by now you know all of this is because of your father, it's such a sad thing being betrayed by people who you thought you could trust isn't it? Odd what a little bit of money will make people do. _

_Third, if it consoles you at all, if you're father knew what he was selling you into, well, I don't think he would have so readily considered selling you._

_Fourth, I am beyond excited to continue this fun little game of ours._

_Fifth, I wonder how long it will take for your precious hosts to fall apart around you. There is another power coming into play that I will be taking from you so you can't use it, but please by all means enjoy thinking about how if you actually received this gift it could save those pathetically miserably shifters you call friends._

_Have a wonderful day sweet, little Nala._

_I'll be seeing you soon._

An almost illegible scrawl at the bottom of the letter made Nala's skin crawl in horror.

_The Sorcerer_.

She shuddered, and Haruhi who had been reading it over her shoulder snapped out a couple of choice words that made Nala want to laugh hysterically. Of course this monster was one step ahead of them, as always, and he somehow knew about the twins too. Crumpling the note in her fist, Nala stared at the high quality paper, and just silently steamed. That arrogant, conniving, brute of an ass. Was. Going. To. Burn. Nala's lips curled into a silent snarl, and it felt like her mind was running in a thousand different directions at once. Oddly enough though, it was the quiet icy rage that one over, and it felt like it melted over everything inside of her; both body and mind, and she turned to walk back to the kitchen.

"This changes nothing Haruhi, we're going to beat him because sure, maybe he's powerful and knows things, but he doesn't have the same friends I do. I know my friends, and I know I won't lose to this rat bastard. This," she glanced at the crumpled note in her hand as she stalked into the kitchen causing the other hosts to go silent. "This changes nothing, I'm still going to destroy this monster from top to bottom. He doesn't stand a chance."

Of course, Kyoya was upset when he read the note upon getting home from school, but he agreed with Nala. If they changed their plans they played right into his hands. They were going to proceed as planned, and so help anyone who decided to intervene.

*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*

The next day dawned rainy and bleak, and the hosts - except for Kyoya - again stayed home from school. It was only two missed days, but between that, the bleak weather, and the threat hanging over her head, Nala was struggling to be joyful even if Maddy was coming that night.

The day dragged on, and all the hosts were strangely quiet and somber as it progressed. Whatever strange mood was in the air was infectious, even Kyoya upon entering the apartment again after finishing the school day merely raised his eyebrows in surprise, but didn't comment.

The time flew by, and before Nala knew it Kyoya was nudging her and asking if she was ready to go. They all piled into the limo, and to Nala's surprise she saw the clouds were clearing above them, giving way to the last few hours of sunlight. They rode to the bus station, which was ridiculously crowded as far as Nala was concerned, and waited.

Several minutes later, Nala caught a flash of red hair amongst the crowd on the street as a bus pulled away from the curb, and she was out of the limo in a flash. Dashing through the crowd, ignoring the shouts of the other hosts after her, all Nala saw was the crazy, curly auburn hair that stood out against the somber background, and the blue eyes that looked around in search of someone.

"Maddy!"

Those stormy blue eyes lit up at the sound of her name, and caught on Nala who was politely trying to push her way through the crowd. Maddy raised an arm to wave in greeting, and that's where everything went wrong. From behind her, like a tidal wave, out of the crowd, a dozen men streamed towards the girl, and with a hard, yet somehow discreet, blow to the back of the head, one of them caught the suddenly unconscious Irish-American girl and guarding her body lifted her up and spirited her away into the crowd Nala choked on a scream, almost tripping over her own feet. Yet somehow as her world spun to a stand still, none of the other people around her saw what happened. A few men and women in a hurry brushed by her and gave her dirty looks at where she was kneeling on the ground in obvious shock.

From somewhere a few feet next to her, a voice that was like nails on a chalkboard filled her ears.

"Something you should remember Nala Fuyumi, a bugged phone is as easy as being right there with you." Nala's head turned slowly as she dragged her eyes to look at the imposing figure of Officer Tokiya who stood several feet away from her. He tipped his hat towards her. "Have a nice day Miss Fuyumi." And he melted into the crowd.

"Nala!?"

The shocked voices of the hosts behind her caused her to turn tear filled green eyes back towards them.

"They took her. They bugged my phone. They-they...took h-her."

The tears were slipping down her face furiously and Kyoya tugged her up from the ground into his arms. The curses of the other hosts were harsh as they protectively herded the girls back into the limo, and Kyoya gave the order to go somewhere they could actually create a decent plan. Music Room #3.

*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*

Nala stood on the roof of Ouran High school, and stared at the sunset. It was setting in the color of blood, all rich hues of pink, red and purple that streaked across the sky to set the clouds on fire with their brilliance. She blinked back tears as she looked out at the view, worry for Maddy clouding any beauty she would normally have seen in the sunset. Her heart felt physically heavy, and she couldn't stop berating herself for her cousin getting kidnapped.

If only she had told Maddy what was going on completely. If only she had been more careful and realized her phone was hacked. If only she had been faster to get to Maddy on the bus station platform.

If only, if only, if only….

A fat tear trickled down her face, and she wrapped her arms around herself in comfort. Her poor cousin. Who knew what the monsters were doing to her, and here Nala was unable to help at all. Kyoya, Tamaki, the twins, Honey, and Mori were all in touch with people, looking for any information they could get, calling in favors, and coercing people to help them if they could.

And still nothing.

Her shoulders shook, and she bowed her head as the tears came faster. All this time of fighting back, of not giving up, of thinking she could finally outsmart them, and they pulled out a trump card she couldn't beat. She would do anything to get her cousin back, and somehow they knew that. Now all she had to do was wait for the phone call from them. Tipping her head back up to look at the sun, the brunette smiled; it was a sad, self-deprecating smile as she thought about everything that could've been, would've been. If Tokiya called her her now and asked her to jump, her first response would be to ask how high. Anything, anything to help save her cousin.

"I hope that you're not thinking about how this is all your fault and it Tokiya were to call you that you would jump to come to him?"

Nala let out a little shriek, spinning around and throwing a hand over her heart.

'Damn it Ootori! You scared the crap out of me! Didn't your mom ever teach you not to go sneaking up on a girl like that?"

He merely raised an eyebrow and stepped up beside her as she turned back to look at the setting sun.

"Nala it is not your fault, we'll find her. You know once I've set my mind to something that it happens." She just stared out at the sunset in silence, and he sighed. "Nala," He stepped behind her, and gently wrapped his arms around her waist, and turned her around so her face was pressed against her chest. He pressed a gentle kiss to her upturned forehead. "We've come this far, we can find her. We will find her. Trust me."

And in that moment, with her head tipped back to look into the boy's dark eyes, the sun setting behind her, and grief heavy in her heart, she took a leap of faith.

"I do trust you, Kyoya."

And stretching up onto her tiptoes, she kissed him like she'd been wishing to do for months, and especially so since he had asked her to be his girlfriend. Somehow, in some crazy way, with all that had happened in the last hour, Nala knew without a doubt that with Kyoya, Tamaki, the twins, Honey, Mori, and Haruhi working together with her to find Maddy that they would find her.

The cat's eye ring on her finger almost seemed to pulse softly as if it could cocoon her in a veil of safety and hope, and standing there with Kyoya's ring on her finger, his arms around her waist, and the knowledge that her friends were doing everything they could, it seemed like - in some crazy way - for the first time in a long time, all the good things were outweighing the bad.

It was up to time and fate now to see what was going to happen, and exactly how many people's asses Nala was going to have to kick to bring her cousin home safely.

She would do it, and as she broke the kiss with Kyoya to smile up into his face, the grief didn't lift per say, but Hope snuck its way into her heart to fight it, and fight for the tomorrow she knew would come somehow.

**Authors Note**

Guys thank you so much for being patient, lots of personal things came up into my life. This is my holiday gift to all of you. I hope you enjoy! Happy holidays! I will be uploading part of the first chapter of the sequel soon before continuing it as a separate story.

Shout out to…

Follows/favs

iwantharrysthighstokillme + AlekeiLee + missbows + WeepingAngels626 + mgkerry + animelover56348 + TheBetrayed0-0 + Littlemissheadphones + 1234rewqasd5 + Squidwarriorchu + angle fish + Sierra Weasley + Half Winged Angel in Despair + thealitaylor + Emerald Anime + GinryuFox + Hibiki Loke

Reviews

ktmyldy28 (hehe don't worry all will be revealed soon. Although it might possibly all be revealed in the sequel, well, a majority of it because suspense)

Let'sDotheTimeLordpAgain (Will she though 0_o)

Hibiki Loke (*HIGHEST OF HIGH FIVES*)


	53. Chapter 52

"**Authors Note** This is the bonus to the beginning of my sequel Cat's Eyes, which I have titled "Cats' Prey". ALSO WHERE ARE ALL MY REGULAR READERS PLZ DON'T LEAVE ME BECAUSE I WAS GONE FOR A BIT GUYS COME BACK! Erm, anyway yes, enjoy the bonus beginning to Cats' Prey! 

"Pull. Rend. Tear. Snap. Pull. Rend. Tear. Snap." The chant whispered through the darkness of a small dank room. It came from a tall, skeletal man who was hunched over a table. On that table, lay a body. "Pull. Rend. Tear. Snap." A sadistic grin slid over the sorcerer's face as he played with Officer Tokiya's body. "Thought you were better than us hm?" The sorcerer bent so it would appear the hollow black pits where his eyes should have been were staring directly into officer Tokiya's wide open and terrified ones. "Pull. Rend. Tear. Snap." His inhuman, bony fingers with their claw like fingernails slid under the skin of Tokiya's body as he muttered the chant slowly, pulling an agonized moan from the man. "You are a fool. A beautiful toy, but a fool." Another claw slid into the body. "You had one simple task officer, yet not only do you fail me, you bring me the wrong girl."

Officer Tokiya couldn't have replied even if he wanted to. His lips had been stitched shut.

The sorcerer's hollowed out eyes slid over to the unconscious crumpled form of a girl on the floor in the corner of the room.

His pets crawled around her, one touched her hair. Hair the color of deep, rich, red, auburn. It flickered and shimmered in the light like a dark liquid fire. Or blood. The sorcerer smiled. Oh yes, this next playtoy would be a fun one to make scream. With her delicate features, and that gorgeous, rich hair, he knew he could expect great things from her. Maybe it was time to forget that other little vixen with her emerald eyes and her chocolate colored hair. However, the thought of her emerald eyes, and a glance at the rich red hair of the girl on the floor caused some semblance of a twisted, sadistic smile slide over the sorcerer's face. Maybe it was time to look into his old research on the melding of human bodies.

Shout out to...

SouthernCharmer17 + Naiya Belladonna + armydancer01 (Thanks so much for the follows/favs guys!)


	54. Announcement New Story!

Hey all! Just a heads up to those of you who havent seen it, but my new story has been posted on my page. If you're interested in continuing Nala's story, and meeting Madden, and reading all about their adventures - both the good, the bad, and the deadly - then head over to my page and open the new story "Cats Prey"

I hope you enjoy, and as always thank you for your continued love and support!


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